THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Carle ton  Shay 


-  ^p  \yr  ^ 


THE      CLASSIC 
MEDITERRANEAN 


JOHN  BANCROFT  DEVINS 

Author  of 
"An  Observer  in  the  Philippines  " 


For  wheresoe'er  I  turn  my  ravished  eyes 
Gay  gilded  scenes  and  shining  prospects  rise. 
Poetic  fields  encompass  me  around, 
And  still  I  seem  to  tread  on  classic  ground. 

Addison 


One  seeing  is  better  than  a  thousand  people 
telling  you  of  it.  Chinese  Proverb 


AMERICAN     TRACT     SOCIETY 
150  NASSAU  STREET     :     :     :     NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1910 
By  American  Tract  Society 


TO 

MY   WIFE 

THE  NOBLEST  OF  WOMEN 
THE  BEST  OF  COMRADES 
THE    TRUEST    OF    FRIENDS 

THIS    STORY    OF    OUR    CRUISE    TOGETHER    IN  MEDITERRANEAN 
WATERS    IS    AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED 


FOREWORD 


ONE  winter  morning,  after  the  roar  of  New  York 
had  sunk  to  silence  and  the  city's  gigantic  up- 
lift of  structures  had  dwindled  to  a  ragged  line  in  the 
hush  behind  us,  and  our  ship  had  begun  to  dip  her 
bows  with  an  easy  swing  as  if  glad  to  find  herself  once 
more  in  Ocean's  freedom,  I  strolled  below  in  search  of 
any  mail  that  might  have  come  aboard.  In  a  long 
narrow  passage  I  saw  a  man,  robust  and  bearded,  com- 
ing along  with  a  chatting  group  about  him  and  bear- 
ing an  armful  of  letters  and  papers.  As  the  party 
passed  me  he  turned  and  said  with  quiet  courtesy, 
''Good  morning,  sir."  There  were  several  hundred 
persons  aboard  bound  for  a  cruise  through  the  Medi- 
terranean together,  but  scarcely  a  face  was  known  to 
me.  I  found  myself  wondering  who  this  gentleman 
might  be. 

I  slept  most  of  the  time  during  the  next  day  or  two ; 
but  at  length  I  got  my  sea-legs  and  went  down  to  an 
evening  entertainment.  In  the  center  of  the  crowded 
dining-saloon,  conducting  the  program,  was  the  man 
who  greeted  me  in  the  passage  with  his  arms  full  of 
mail.  I  chanced  to  drop  into  a  seat  beside  a  little 
lady  who  proved  to  be  a  genial  conversationalist.     She 

5 


(J  FOREWORD 

identified  him  for  me.  I  now  present  him  to  the  readers 
of  this  book  as  "the  man  who  greeted  me  in  the  passage 
with  his  arms  full  of  mail.'"  For  so  I  first  knew  the 
author,  and  I  know  of  no  fitter  characterization. 

I  came  to  know  Dr.  Devins  in  many  other  relations 
while  the  good  ship  Arabic  bore  us  to  many  lands; 
since  returning  to  America  I  have  learned  more  of  his 
vigorous,  beneficent  life.  All  is  summed  up  in  that  first 
glimpse  of  him.  He  is  ever  brotherly  and  busy.  I 
might  tell  how  many  thousands  of  children  go  each 
summer  from  the  tenements  of  New  York  into  the 
health  and  gladness  which  childhood  finds  in  the 
country  because  this  Editor  of  The  New  York  Ob- 
server has  a  big  brother's  interest  in  their  little  lives, 
and  busies  himself  managing  the  affairs  of  The  Trib- 
une Fresh  Air  Fund.  But  this  would  only  be  one  of 
the  many  practical  activities  which  engage  the  hand 
that  wrote  these  pages.  He  is  no  recluse,  no  easy-go- 
ing bookmaker,  no  unconcerned  traveler  roaming  the 
world  for  pleasure  only.  He  has  traveled  the  world 
over,  knows  public  men  and  rulers,  has  studied  the 
life  of  peoples  speaking  many  tongues,  always  as  a 
lover  of  his  kind. 

One  may  venture  to  say  that  it  is  this  attitude  of 
mind  which  is  likely  to  receive  through  the  medium  of 
intelligent  observation  the  truest  impressions  of  the 
classic  Mediterranean.  The  detached  mind  which 
views  the  marvels  of  bygone  life  on  those  shores  with 
no  deep  sense  of   human   brotherhood   and  no  enthu- 


FOREWORD  7 

siasm  for  meeting  human  need  may  have  a  technical 
skill  in  judging  these  things  which  is  of  high  worth. 
But  after  all,  everything  there  seen  has  its  deepest  sig- 
nificance when  viewed  as  expressing  life  and  longing, 
the  needs  and  resources  of  men  akin  to  ourselves  by  ties 
that  unite  us  across  oceans  and  centuries.  The  teem- 
ing life  found  there  now  is  profoundly  human,  and  its 
sordid,  pathetic  calmness  of  decay  only  interprets  and 
deepens  the  wonder  of  that  vast  array  of  ancient 
achievement  to  which  the  remains  there  found  bear 
witness. 

Renan,  man  of  letters  and  critic  that  he  was,  per- 
ceived this  when  he  journeyed  through  Mediterranean 
countries.  ' '  Would  you  believe  it  ? "  he  writes.  ' '  I 
am  completely  changed.  I  am  no  longer  French ;  I 
am  no  longer  critic ;  I  am  unworthy  of  the  role ; 
I  have  no  longer  any  opinions ;  I  know  not  what  to 
say  about  all  this."*  Then  his  genius  flames  out  in  a 
splendid  passage,  showing  that  all  there  seen  is  a  part 
of  the  life  of  the  people,  an  expression  of  deepest  hu- 
man interests  —  "interests  which  are  as  real  as  any 
other  of  the  needs  of  nature." 

And  Thackeray  closes  an  account  of  a  scene  ob- 
served by  him  amid  Mediterranean  people  with  these 
words:  "The  Maker  has  linked  together  the  whole 
race  of  man  with  the  chain  of  love.  I  like  to  think 
that  there  is  no  man  but  has  had  kindly  feelings  for 
some  other,  and  he  for  his  neighbor,  until  we  bind 
together  the  whole  family  of  Adam.1' 


8  FOREWORD 

I  believe  that  the  reader  of  this  book  will  find  in  it 
the  strong  human  feeling,  the  sense  of  the  needs  of 
men  and  of  brotherhood  wide  as  humanity.  These 
will  be  the  workman's  marks  of  "the  man  who  greeted 
me  in  the  passage  with  his  arms  full  of  mail." 

William  Allen  Knight. 

Brighton   Parsonage,  Boston,  Mass., 
September  26,  1910. 


PREFACE 

THE  Call  of  the  Orient  once  heard  is  never  for- 
gotten; once  heeded,  it  is  ever  insistent  for  an- 
other and  yet  another  response.  To  satisfy  this  cry 
from  the  East  a  world-trip  was  undertaken  some  years 
ago.  Two  months  of  the  twelve  were  spent  in  the 
countries  bordering  upon  the  Mediterranean,  mostly 
in  Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land.  It  was  a  personally 
conducted  party,  but  which  of  the  two  members  was 
the  conductor  has  never  been  satisfactorily  settled: 
each  insists  that  the  other  was.  One  regret  was  ever 
present:  it  seemed  supremely  selfish  to  see  so  many 
strange  and  interesting  sights,  to  have  so  many  unusual 
and  delightful  experiences,  and  to  enjoy  to  the  full 
every  passing  moment  just  for  themselves  alone.  A 
decision,  if  not  a  vow,  was  registered  that  if  ever 
again  an  occasion  offered  to  visit  the  lands  made  for- 
ever sacred  by  the  earthly  presence  of  the  Master  of 
men,  that  privilege  should  be  shared  by  as  many 
friends  as  could  be  induced  to  go  by  their  simple 
story  of  what  they  had  seen  and  enjoyed. 

Quite  unexpectedly  their  day-dreams  in  Egypt  and 
Palestine  have  been  realized.  The  classic  Mediterra- 
nean has  been  revisited  and  old  acquaintances  renewed 
and  new  friendships  formed  under  circumstances  of 

9 


10  PREFACE 

special  interest.  For  two  months  or  more,  in  a  party 
containing  many  clergymen,  Bible  teachers  and  stu- 
dents and  educators,  the  study  of  the  peoples  border- 
ing upon  the  Great  Sea.  with  their  histories,  customs, 
religions  and  present-day  achievements,  was  carried 
on  in  a  methodical  manner  with  the  aid  of  approved 
scholars,  the  best  literature  available,  and,  what  was 
best  of  all.  it  was  done  in  the  countries  themselves. 
Surely  the  Chinese  proverb  has  been  verified:  "One 
seeing  is  better  than  a  thousand  people  telling  you  of 
it."  and  the  seeing  was  accomplished  with  the  least 
possible  fatigue  !  The  memory  of  those  happy  weeks 
will  never  perish.  And  then,  separating  themselves 
from  the  larger  party,  three  members  traveled  for 
weeks  entirely  at  leisure.  Cathedrals  and  libraries 
and  museums  yielded  their  best,  and  friends  added 
charm  to  the  saunterings  of  the  travelers  as,  care  free, 
they  journeyed  from  city  to  city  where  fancy  dictated 
or  reason  impelled,  or  halted  in  fascinating  towns  and 
suburbs  in  Southern  Europe,  and  read  and  rested  and 
dreamed  of  those  who  had  lived  and  loved  amid  the 
historic  surroundings  so  delightful  and  satisfying. 

And  now  that  the  journey  is  ended  how  may  one 
properly  present  the  facts  gained  and  the  impressions 
received  without  making  a  new  guide-book  on  the  one 
hand.  or.  on  the  other,  a  diary  of  experiences,  inter- 
esting chiefly  to  those  who  were  his  associates  on  the 
journey?      How  can  one  volume  contain  it  all? 

John  Bancroft  Devins. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Chapter    I.    The   Classic    Mediterranean— Its  Ro- 
mance and    History 15 

What  Robert  Browning  Saw  at  Gibraltar— Thackeray's  Ex- 
periences on  the  Sea— The  Human  Race  at  School— A  Prayer  for 
Sir  Walter  Scott. 

Chapter  II.  Madeira  and  the  Azores 22 

Entering  the  Harbor  of  Funchal — Travel  by  Sledge  and  To- 
boggan—Gambling in  the  Casino — Beautiful  Gardens  in  Ponta 
Delgada. 

Chapter  III.    Gibraltar  and  Tangier 34 

The  Great  Rock  with  a  Noble  History— Its  Value  to  Great 
Britain — A  Representative  City  of  Morocco — France  in  Northern 
Africa. 

Chapter  IV.  Granada  and  the  Alhambra 43 

The  Last  Stronghold  of  the  Moors  in  Europe — Fascination  of 
the  Alhambra — Splendid  in  Its  Ruins — Seville  and  Cadiz. 

Chapter  V.  Algiers  and  Malta 56 

An  Arab  Proverb  to  Describe  a  City — Algerians  Through 
American  Eyes — England's  Eye  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  St. 
Paul's  Bay. 

Chapter  VI.  Greece  in  Song  and  Story 67 

History  and  Poetry  Attest  Noble  Deeds — Famous  Ruins  in 
Athens  —  An  Interview  with  King  George  —  Excavations  at 
Corinth. 

Chapter  VII.  Constantinople  Old  and  New 85 

The  City  on  the  Bosphorus  Founded  by  the  Greeks — The  Seat 
of  Moslem  Rule — The  Bible  House,  and  the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia. 

Chapter  VIII.    Under  the  New  Constitution 95 

The  Young  Turks  in  Control— Liberty  Undergoing  a  Severe 
Test — America's  Influence  in  the  Empire — A  Chat  with  an  Am- 
bassador. 

11 


12  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  IX.    Cross  and  Crescent  in  Conflict 109 

Missionary  Influence  Extended — The  Gospel  in  Many  Tongues 
— The  Moslems  Alert  and  Aggressive — The  Struggle  to  be  Con- 
tinued. 

Chapter  X.     Smyrna  and  Ephesus 121 

Education  and  Missions — Polycarp's  Confession  and  Tomb — 
How  Brigands  Ply  Their  Vocation — John's  Letter  to  Smyrna — 
Paul's  Prayer. 

Chapter  XI.    Beirut,  Damascus  and  Baalbec 133 

The  American  Press  and  the  American  College  Message  of 
a  Veteran  Missionary — Damascus  and  the  Temple  Ruins  at  Baal- 
bec. 

Chapter  XII.     Higher  Education  in  Turkey 148 

Colleges  Founded  by  Missionaries  and  Backed  by  American 
Gold  —Instruction,  Not  Conversion,  the  Aim  of  Some  Institutions. 

Chapter  XIII.  Nazareth  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee..  162 

The  Boyhood  Home  of  Jesus — A  Part  of  Palestine  Replete 
with  Bible  History — Sites  of  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida. 

Chapter  XIV.    Jerusalem  and  the  Jordan  Valley  177 

Through  the  Plain  of  Sharon — Interesting  Days  in  the  Holy 
City— Bethlehem,  and  the  Mount  of  Olives— On  the  Way  to  Jericho. 

Chapter  XV.     Egypt  and  the  Nile 200 

The  Gift  of  the  River — Tribute  to  Turkey  and  Under  the  Con- 
trol of  England  —A  Holy  War  Suggested — The  Suez  Canal. 

Chapter  XVI.    Italy:  People,  Art  and  Religion...  219 

Naples  and  Vesuvius — Messina  and  the  Disaster — Rome: 
Churches,  and  Ruins — Florence :  Art  and  Romance  Pisa  and  Its 
Leaning  Tower — Venice,  a  City  'n  the  Sea. 

Chapter  XVII.    The  Cruise  of  the  Arabic 245 

Three  Continents  and  Many  Countries  Visited  — Excursions  in 
Spain,  Greece,  the  Holy  Land,  Egypt  and  Italy  Lasting  Friend- 
ships formed. 

Home  Thoughts  from  Europe 256 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Mediterranean,  Bird's-eye  View  of  the ....  Frontispiece 

Palermo,  Sicily,  View  of j? 

Jaffa  Harbor J* 

Funchal,    Madeira ^ 

Funchal,  Toboggan  Slide £J 

Ponta  Delgada,  A  Garden  in JO 

Azore  Islands,  Native  Costume «» 

Gibraltar,  Rock  of 35 

Granada,  The  Generaliffe  Near  the  Alhambra 45 

Granada,   The  Alhambra 47 

Granada,  Street  Scene  in 49 

Seville,  Garden  of  the  Alcazar 52 

Seville  Cathedral,  Tomb  of  Columbus 53 

Seville,  Cathedral  and  Giralda 54 

Algiers,  A  Mosque  in 59 

Algiers,  Women  in  Street  Costume 59 

Algiers,  Plaster  Cast  of  Geronimo 59 

Malta  Harbor 59 

Malta,  St.  Paul's  Bay 59 

Greece,  The  King  and  Queen  of 69 

Athens,  The  Acropolis by 

Athens,  The  Caryatides 69 

Athens,  The    Stadium 69 

Athens,  Mars'  Hill,  Where  Paul  Preached 69 

Aero-Corinth 81 

Corinth,  Remains  of  a  Christian  Church  at 83 

Constantinople  and  the  Bosphorus 87 

Constantinople,  The  Bible  House 91 

Constantinople,  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia 93 

Constantinople,  The  Imperial  Palace 97 

Smyrna,  American  Collegiate  Institute 124 

Smyrna,  At  Tomb  of  Polycarp 126 

Ephesus,  Gateway  of  St.  John's  Church 130 

13 


14  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Beirut,  Place  de  Canon 137 

Beirut,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  H.  Jessup 140 

Constantinople,    Robert  College 151 

Beirut,  Syrian  Protestant  College 154 

Beirut,  Rev.  Dr.  Howard  S.  Bliss 155 

Nazareth,  The  Village  and  Fountain  of  Mary 164 

Galilee,  Tiberias  and  the  Sea  of 174 

Jerusalem,  David  Street 181 

Jerusalem,  Russian  Pilgrims 182 

Jerusalem,  A  Band  of  Lepers 185 

Good  Samaritan  Inn 186 

Jerusalem,  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher 188 

Bethlehem,  Church  of  the  Nativity 192 

Jerusalem,  Gethsemane  and  Its  Keeper 195 

Jerusalem,  Damascus  Gate 197 

Nile,  Sailing  on  the 202 

Cairo,  An  Egyptian  Woman 204 

Pyramids,  Climbing  the 209 

Sphinx  and  the  Pyramids,  The 214 

Cairo,  Seti  I.  in  the  Museum  of 216 

Naples  and  Vesuvius,  Bay  of 222 

Naples,  Street  Scene  in 224 

Sicily,  A  Sicilian   Cart 225 

Messina  Before  the  Earthquake 226 

Messina,  Ruins  of 227 

Messina,  The  New 228 

Rome,  The  Appian  Way 229 

Rome,  St.  Peter's 230 

Florence,  The  Campanile 234 

Florence  on  Holy  Saturday 237 

Fiesole,  Near  Florence 238 

Pisa,  Leaning  Tower  and  Cathedral 239 

Venice,  Bridge  of  Sighs 242 

Venice,  The  Winged  Lion  of Cover  and  243 

Venice,  On  the  Grand  Canal 244 

Arabic  Party,  Some  Members  of  the 247 

Leonard,  Rev.  Dr.  Joel 250 

Lord  Bishop  of  Ontario,  The 250 


THE 

CLASSIC  MEDITERRANEAN 

CHAPTER     I 
ITS     ROMANCE    AND     HISTORY 


Nobly,  nobly  Cape  Saint  Vincent  to  the  northwest  died  away; 

Sunset  ran,  one  glorious  blood-red,  reeking  into  Cadiz  Bay; 

B'":~h  'mid  burning  water,  full  in  face  Trafalgar  lay; 

In  the  dimmest  northeast  distance  dawned  Gibraltar  grand  and  gray: 

"Here  and  here  did  England  help  me— how  can  I  help  England?"  say, 

Whoso  turns  as  I,  this  evening,  turn  to  God  to  praise  and  pray, 

While  Jove's  planet  rises  yonder,  silent  over  Africa. 

—Robert  Browning. 

f  I  ^0  be  known  as  the  school  of  the  human  race  is 
*-  an  honor  possible  for  only  one  place  on  earth. 
Dr.  J.  S.  Howson,  an  English  scholar  of  renown, 
has  given  this  distinction  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
Another  Englishman,  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  declares 
that  the  grand  object  of  traveling  is  to  see  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  on  which  have  rested  the  four 
great  empires  of  the  world :  the  Assyrian,  the  Persian, 
the  Grecian  and  the  Roman.  He  maintains  that  all 
of  our  religion,  nearly  all  of  our  law,  the  majority  of 
our  arts,  almost  all  that  sets  us  above  savages,  have 
come  to  us  from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

"Come  and  make  one  of  my  family  party ;  in  all 
your    life   you  will    never,   probably,   have    a    chance 

15 


16        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

again  to  see  so  much  in  so  short  a  time.  Consider — 
it  is  as  easy  as  a  journey  to  Paris  and  Baden." 

With  such  an  invitation  William  Makepeace 
Thackeray  tells  us  in  his  delightful  travel  story  under 
the  title  of  "The  Notes  of  a  Journey  from  Cornhill  to 
Grand  Cairo,''''  how  he  joined  an  excursion  to  Mediter- 
ranean ports  in  the  fall  of  1844.  In  thirty-six  hours 
after  accepting  the  invitation  he  was  ready  for  his 
journey,  which  occupied  two  months.  His  experi- 
ences along  the  coast  of  Spain,  at  Lisbon  and  Cadiz, 
and  in  the  Mediterranean  at  Gibraltar.  Algiers. 
Malta,  Athens,  Constantinople,  Smyrna,  Jaffa,  Jeru- 
salem, Alexandria  and  Cairo,  lose  nothing  from  the 
fact  that  they  were  recorded  some  seventy  years  ago. 
Many  of  them  could  not  be  duplicated  at  the  present 
time;  a  few  of  them  it  would  be  better  not  to  repeat. 

And  what  is  the  Sea  over  which  the  great  English 
writer  sailed  so  pleasantly  in  the  Forties  of  the  last 
century,  and  of  which  so  many  of  his  admirers  have 
delightful  memories  in  the  opening  decades  of  the 
present  century?  "The  Sea  within  the  Land"  is  the 
literal  meaning  of  the  word  Mediterranean.  To  the 
Hebrews  it  was  "The  Great  Sea'* ;  the  Romans  called 
it  "Our  Sea."'  The  prayer  of  Wordsworth,  expressed 
in  a  sonnet  when  Sir  Walter  Scott  went  from  Abbots- 
ford  to  Naples,  gives  it  another  name : 

"  lie  true, 
Ye  winds  of  ocean  and  the  Midland  Sea, 
Wafting  vour  charge  to  safe  Parthenope." 


A    PICTURE   WITHIN   A    FRAME 


17 


A    modern    poet    has    described  the  Mediterranean 
thus: 

* '  O  thou  great  heartless  Sea  !  without  a  tide 
To  bless  thee  with  its  changing." 

One  may  regard  the  Mediterranean  as  Dr.  Howson 
did,  "as  a  picture  within  a  frame,"  or  he  may  think 


VIEW    OF    THE    SEA    AT    PALERMO 

of  it  as  sleeping  ''through  silent  centuries  in  the 
embrace  of  three  continents."  Studying  it  either  as  a 
geographer  or  historian,  he  will  be  well  repaid  for  his 
efforts.  He  may  people  it  again  with  the  gods  and 
goddesses  of  mythology,  or  see  its  waves  reddening 
with  the  terrors  of  piracy;  he  will  find  literature  in 
abundance  to  reward  his  search.      He  may  hear  again 


18        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

the  swish  of  galley  oars,  and  behold  the  crash  of  ships 
as  Carthage  and  Greece  and  Rome  measure  their 
strength  for  the  possession  of  the  Sea  and  its  borders ; 
he  may  follow  the  fleets  of  England  and  France  as 
they  meet  in  death-conflict  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Sea  and  hear  the  wail  of  the  Corsican  when  he  learns 
that  his  ships  have  fallen  under  Nelson's  terrible 
scourge.  Or.  turning  from  mythology  and  history  and 
bloodshed,  he  may  think  of  the  Mediterranean  as  the 
highway  between  Boston  and  Constantinople,  or  Lon- 
don and  Bombay,  or  New  York  and  Shanghai,  over 
which  the  commerce  of  nations  is  carried,  and  upon 
which  a  considerable  part  of  the  population  of  Western 
Asia  and  Southern  Europe  travels  on  its  way  to  the 
Americas. 

The  water  of  the  Mediterranean  is  very  much  saltier 
than  either  the  Atlantic  on  the  west  or  the  Black  Sea 
on  the  east.  It  is  said  that  the  rainfall  over  the 
Mediterranean  drainage  is  thirty  inches  a  year,  while 
the  evaporation  over  the  area  of  the  Sea  is  practically 
five  feet,  the  evaporation  being  twice  as  great  as  the 
precipitation.  Were  there  no  provision  for  making 
good  this  deficiency,  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean 
would  sink  until  its  surface  was  so  far  contracted  as  to 
lose  no  more  bv  evaporation  than  would  be  supplied 
by  rain.  This  condition  would  probably  not  be 
fulfilled  before  all  of  the  .Egean  and  Adriatic  and  the 
whole  of  the  western  basin  west  of  the  island  of  Sar- 
dinia   were   Laid  drv.  and   what  is   now  the  Mcditerra- 


EARLY    RULERS    OF   THE   SEA 


19 


nean  would  be  reduced  to  two  ' '  Dead  Seas, '  one 
between  Sardinia  and  Naples  and  the  other  between 
Africa  and  the  mouth  of  the  Adriatic. 

That  the  level  and  the  salinity  of  the  Mediterranean 
remain  constant  is  due  to  the  supply  of  water  which 
enters  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.      Here  there  are  two 


JAFFA    HARBOR 


currents,  the  upper  one  going  from  the  Atlantic  and 
the  under  one  flowing  into  the  ocean.  Both  are 
affected  by  tidal  influence,  but,  after  allowing  that, 
there  is  still  a  balance  of  inflow  in  the  upper  and  of 
outflow  in  the  under  current. 

But  a  body  of  water  is  not  entitled  to  be  termed 
great  simply  because  of  its  extent  or  its  physical  peculi- 
arities, and  the  Mediterranean  has  many  other  claims 


20        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

to  fame.  One  has  only  to  recall  the  legends  of 
mythology  or  the  tales  of  Greece  and  Carthage  and 
Rome  and  the  piracies  which  have  made  the  history 
of  the  Sea  memorable,  the  conflicts  of  Moors  and 
Christians,  and  the  numerous  crusades  sailing  from 
Europe  to  wrest  the  holy  places  from  the  infidels,  to 
know  how  much  of  the  world's  history  has  been  made 
on  and  about  the  Mediterranean.  To  mention  the 
peoples  that  have  made  the  Sea  famous,  one  must 
begin  with  the  Phoenicians  on  the  eastern  coast,  and 
think  of  them  as  its  rulers : 

"First  of  the  throng,  with  enterprising  brow. 
The  keen  Phoenician  steers  his  shadowy  prow ; 
To  him.  sole  hierarch  of  the  secret  main. 
Had  hoary  Neptune  shown  his  ancient  reign, 
And  told  of  realms  and  islands  of  the  blest 
Beyond  the  fabled  Pillars  of  the  West; 
The  Tyrian  mother  with  her  boy  would  stand 
On  the  wet  margin  of  the  shell-strewn  sand. 
Point  his  ancestral  birthright,  bid  him  roam 
O'er  its  wide  plains,  and  call  its  waves  his  home; 
Till  Ocean  loved  him  like  a  foster  child. 
And  Commerce  on  the  bold  adventurer  smiled. 
As  oft  she  saw  his  daring  sail  unfurl 
To  found  a  Carthage  or  explore  a  world." 

During  the  last  half-century  the  Mediterranean  has 
carried  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  westward,  and  in 
return  has  taken  on  its  way  through  the  Sue/  Canal  to 
India  and  China  and  Japan  and  Australia  the  best 
that    Europe    and    America    could    produce   for   those 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE    21 

countries.  During  the  last  decade  the  modern  cru- 
sader has  taken  the  place  of  the  armored  knight  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  shiploads  of  the  best  people  of 
the  Occident  have  gone  to  the  classic  shores  of  Italy 
and  Greece,  to  Turkey  and  the  Holy  Land  and  Egypt, 
while  other  shiploads  from  Southern  Italy  and  South- 
ern Spain  have  sailed  westward  to  find  their  home  in 
the  land  unknown  when  the  Moors  left  Granada. 

On  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  as  Principal 
Howson  has  pointed  out,  the  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages, which  have  ever  since  been  educators  of  the 
highest  human  intellects,  were  formed  and  perfected. 
These  waters  carried  the  ship  of  Jonah  from  Joppa, 
and  floated  down  from  Tyre  King  Hiram's  beams  of 
cedarwood.  By  the  seaside  on  one  of  these  shores  St. 
Peter  prayed ;  on  one  of  these  islands  St.  Paul  was 
wrecked.  Across  this  Sea  Ignatius  sailed  to  his  mar- 
tyrdom at  Rome ;  at  Hippo,  on  the  Carthaginian  shore, 
Augustine  wrote  those  volumes  which  have  instructed 
the  Christian  centuries.  That  which  gives  to  school 
its  dignity  is  that  it  is  a  little  world  which  prepares 
for  the  great  world ;  and  that  which  is  the  dignity  and 
glory  of  the  Mediterranean  is,  not  merely  that  it  is  a 
majestic  expanse  of  water,  but  that  it  was  ordained  to 
be  the  school  of  the  human  race. 


CHAPTER    II 
MADEIRA    AND    THE    AZORES 


Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean— roll ! 

Ten  thousand  fleets  sweep  over  thee  in  vain  ; 

Man  marks  the  earth  with  ruin— his  control 

Stops  with  the  shore ;  upon  the  watery  plain 

The  wrecks  are  all  thy  deed,  nor  doth  remain 

A  shadow  of  man's  ravage,  save  his  own, 

When  for  a  moment,  like  a  drop  of  rain, 

He  sinks  into  thy  depths  with  bubbling  groan, 

Without  a  grave,  unknelled,  uncoffined  and  unknown. 

—  Lord  Byron. 

IF  one  enters  the  Mediterranean  from  the  west  he 
may  vary  his  route  somewhat  by  stopping  at  the 
Azores  or  Madeira  and  getting  a  glimpse  of  semi- 
tropical  life;  if  he  prolongs  his  stay  in  one  of  these 
archipelagoes,  or  better  yet  plans  to  visit  them  both. 
and  includes  also  the  Canaries,  he  will  have  a  series  of 
experiences  which  will  prove  novel  and  entertaining. 
A  tour  around  the  several  islands  proves  that  each  has 
its  own  charms,  customs  and  individuality.  The  three 
archipelagoes  are  so  many  tiny  worlds,  blessed  with  a 
mild  and  benignant  climate;  most  of  the  islands  form- 
ing them  are  still  remote  from  the  prosaic,  progressive- 
life  of  England  or  America,  and  each  one  of  them 
possesses  new  and  interesting  features  which  arrest  and 
hold  the  attention  of  every  traveler. 

22 


24        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

One  may  visit  with  safety  the  islands  at  any  time  of 
the  year,  for  when  blizzards  rage  in  America  and  the 
valleys  of  Europe  are  deep  in  snow  and  ice,  the  preci- 
pices of  Madeira,  the  forests  of  La  Palma,  the  moun- 
tain-peaks of  Teneriffe  and  the  irrigated  valleys  of 
Grand  Canary  are  bathed  in  sunshine ;  and  when  the 
heat  of  summer  annoys  and  oppresses  Americans  and 
Europeans  alike,  the  mountain  summits  of  the  archi- 
pelagoes are  at  their  best.  They  stand  for  months 
together  above  the  clouds  in  a  world  of  their  own, 
where  the  exhilarating  atmosphere  allows  of  constant 
exercise  under  most  favorable  conditions. 

Madeira,  the  largest  of  the  five  islands  in  the  group 
bearing  its  name,  is  about  thirty -three  miles  long  and 
one-third  as  broad,  with  a  population  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  people.  It  has  been  called  "a 
neglected  paradise,11  partly  because  it  is  off  the  travel 
line,  but  recently  it  has  come  into  prominence  through 
the  Mediterranean  tours,  and  on  an  average  a  half- 
dozen  ships  a  day  enter  the  harbor.  Funchal  is  on 
the  southern  side  of  Madeira,  and  as  the  ship  sails 
along  the  coast  for  some  thirty  miles,  vineyards, 
meadow-lands  and  gardens  are  seen,  adding  to  the 
beauty  of  the  landscape.  Now  and  then  a  waterfall, 
apparently  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  in 
height,  adds  to  the  semi-tropical  picture. 

Madeira  is  a  province  of  Portugal  and  is  entitled  to 
send  deputies  to  the  Cortes  at  Lisbon.  The  adminis- 
tration is  in  the  hands  of  a  Civil  Governor,  appointed 


ROMANCE   OF   COLUMBUS  25 

by  the  Crown,  a  military  officer  and  his  troops  and 
four  chief  judges,  while  minor  cases  are  tried  by 
magistrates  selected  by  the  people.  Many  of  the 
Madeirans  hope  that  America,  now  that  it  has  the 
Philippines,  much  farther  from  the  western  coast  than 
Madeira  is  from  the  eastern  coast,  will  add  their 
islands  also;  it  is  needless  to  add  that  there  is  no 
immediate  prospect  of  a  fulfilment  of  their  dreams. 

American  travelers  are  interested  in  the  story  that 
Columbus  followed  a  maiden  whom  he  saw  at  school  in 
Portugal  to  her  home  in  Madeira,  where  they  were 
married  in  1473.  The  father  of  Meninea  Perestrella, 
the  maiden  from  Funchal,  was  a  mariner,  and  it  is 
said  that  Columbus  obtained  his  first  taste  for  a  sea- 
faring life  by  studying  his  charts  and  by  going  with 
him  on  trading  expeditions.  A  Biscayan  vessel 
drifted  into  Funchal  and  its  survivors  were  cared  for 
by  Columbus,  but  they  were  so  far  famished  that  they 
did  not  live  long.  The  pilot  bequeathed  to  Columbus 
his  charts  and  papers,  from  which  the  discoverer  of 
America  obtained  his  first  ideas  of  the  existence  of 
unknown  lands  to  the  west  of  Spain.  A  tablet,  bear- 
ing the  name  of  the  great  navigator,  may  be  found  on 
a  house  near  the  cathedral. 

Eight  days  out  the  cruising  steamer  for  Medi- 
terranean ports  makes  her  first  stop,  entering  the 
beautiful  harbor  of  Funchal,  and  finds  the  flag  of  the 
Lisbon  Government  floating  over  the  public  buildings. 
Looking  from  the  ship's   deck  one  sees  the  dazzling 


26        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

white  walls  of  Funchal  surrounded  by  vivid  green. 
Some  one  first  coined  the  epigram  which  is  repeated 
often  by  those  who  visit  Madeira:  "a  diamond  set  in 
emeralds."  A  dozen  boats,  each  with  two  boys 
si  ripped  to  the  waist,  come  alongside  the  steamer,  and 
the  boys  urge  tourists  to  throw  silver  coins  into  the 
water  that  they  may  dive  for  them.  New  travelers 
gratify  their  desire  to  see  the  urchins  disappear;  some- 
times two  dive  from  different  boats.  What  happens 
when  they  are  out  of  sight  no  one  knows,  but  there  is 
no  appearance  of  bloodshed  when  they  reappear,  and 
in  every  case  the  coin  is  secured  before  it  touches  the 
bottom  of  the  harbor. 

In  the  center  of  Funchal  is  the  Governor's  Palace, 
and  over  the  door  of  the  courtyard  is  the  date  of 
its  completion — 16'38.  The  building  is  a  huge  pile 
of  masonry  without  a  window  on  the  inner  walls. 
The  outer  walls  are  bare  plaster  and  stained  by  their 
nearly  three  centuries  of  existence.  The  Public  Gar- 
dens mar  the  Governor's  Palace  are  extremely  beau- 
tiful, and  the  trees  are  properly  labelled  for  those  who 
can  read  botanical  Latin. 

Travel  in  Madeira  is  not  without  its  interesting 
features,  although  there  is  neither  trolley  nor  elevated 
roads  nor  subway  trains;  now  and  then  an  automobile 
is  seen,  but  not  greatly  patronized,  as  visitors  prefer 
the  wicker  sledges  or  carros  which  are  drawn  by  teams 
ol  oxen.  The  bullocks,  with  their  long  horns  through 
which  leather  thongs  are  thrust,  have  the  novel  experi- 


COASTING   ON   COBBLE-STONES 


27 


ence  of  having  two  drivers — one  pulling  and  one 
prodding.  Now  and  then  one  of  the  drivers  stops  to 
grease  the  runners  of  the  sledges  that  glide  over  the  tops 
of  the  cobbles,  which  glisten  like  street-car  rails.  Other 
forms  of  travel  in 
Madeira  are  ham- 
mocks swung  by  a 
pole  to  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  carriers, 
tram-cars  drawn  by 
three  horses  each, 
a  funicular  railway 
which  carries  one 
up  the  mountain- 
side, and  finally  a 
journey  down  two 
miles  from  the  top 
of  the  mountain  in 
sledges  piloted  by 
natives  who  push  or 
ride  according  to 
the  condition  of  the 
road  at  various 
places. 

The  conductors  of  these  peculiar  vehicles  seem  ex- 
hausted every  time  they  pass  a  wine  shop,  and  while 
not  able  to  speak  the  language  of  their  passengers, 
they  make  it  very  plain  that  nothing  but  a  glass  of 
wine  for  each  attendant  will  enable  the  party  to  reach 


TOBOGGAN    SLIDE,     FUNCHAL 


28        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

the  bottom  of  the  hill  in  safety.  One  gets  plenty  of 
thrills  coasting  down  the  hill,  especially  when  the  way 
crooks  in  and  out  between  vineyard  walls,  or  he  sud- 
denly emerges  from  a  gorge  and  finds  himself  over- 
looking miles  of  land  and  sea.  The  average  speed  of 
the  descent  is  twenty  miles  an  hour,  but  in  places  the 
sledges  go  down  so  rapidly  that  even  the  conductors 
cannot  keep  pace,  and.  looking  behind,  one  sees  them 
standing  on  the  runners.  When  the  end  of  the 
journey  is  reached  and  the  men  have  received  their 
money,  one  of  them  puts  the  sledge  on  his  head  and 
carries  it  up  the  steep  incline  down  which  it  has  just 
come.  As  many  of  these  sledges  seat  three  persons, 
one  can  form  an  opinion  of  the  weight,  and  of  the 
difficulty  which  the  bearers  have  in  climbing  certain 
parts  of  the  hill.  For  this  labor  the  sledge-men 
receive  from  the  company  twenty  cents  a  day;  it  is 
little  wonder  that  they  seek  gratuities  from  generous 
passengers  ! 

An  interesting  street  in  Funchal  runs  along  the 
shore  of  the  bay  to  the  ancient  fortress  four  centuries 
old.  and  now  dismantled,  which  is  carved  out  of  solid 
rock.  The  fortress,  standing  on  a  crag,  is  connected 
with  the  shore  by  a  long  breakwater,  and  its  dungeons, 
with  their  unwritten  stories,  are  visited  with  a  bit  of 

horror.  Above  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of 
perpendicular  rock   is  the  Casino,  or  Strangers1  Club. 

as   it    is  ca  I  led. 

A  ball  in  honor  of    the  various  cruises  which  stop  at 


PECULIAR    BANKING   SYSTEM  29 

Funchal  is  given  at  the  Casino,  which  becomes  a 
veritable  fairyland  when  illuminated  at  night.  Ex- 
perienced travelers  declare  that  nothing  more  brilliant 
or  more  fascinating  can  be  seen  on  the  journey. 
Thousands  of  fairy  lamps — many  thousands  of  them — 
small  glasses  containing  olive  oil  and  a  little  taper 
which  floats  on  the  oil,  are  hung  on  the  trees.  With 
their  varied  hues  and  artistic  arrangement  they  pre- 
sent a  picture  which  does  not  soon  fade  from  memory. 
So  near  the  Casino  do  the  ships  anchor  that  the  few 
people  who  do  not  attend  the  entertainments  can  see 
the  illumination  from  the  decks.  The  ladies  in  the 
ballroom  surpass  in  brilliancy  the  decorations  about 
the  grounds.  This  does  not  mean  that  every  lady  is 
equally  well  dressed,  but  that  is  a  delicate  subject  for 
a  masculine  mind  to  dwell  upon.  It  is  fair  to  add, 
however,  that  overdressing  or  other  eccentricity  in 
gowns  is  exceedingly  rare ;  so  rare,  in  fact,  that  those 
guilty  of  the  excess  are  especially  noticeable. 

In  the  room  adjoining  the  ballroom  are  two  tables, 
around  which  people  sit  and  on  which  money  is 
scattered  from  time  to  time.  Midway  on  the  tables  is 
a  depression  with  a  wheel  attached,  which  one  of  the 
men,  apparently  the  president  of  a  bank  in  Funchal, 
judging  by  the  term  used,  whirls  and  then  slips  a 
marble  into  the  depression.  When  its  momentum 
ceases  the  marble  drops  into  the  center  of  the  depres- 
sion, and  the  banker  calls  out  some  number  like 
"seven1'    or  " twenty-seven. "      Then  he   thrusts    out 


J30 


THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


a  miniature  garden  rake  and  pulls  all  of  the  money 
toward  him ;  once  in  a  while  he  leaves  a  quarter  or  a 
half-dollar  or  a  corresponding  piece  of  money  on  the 
table  and  pushes  back  other  quarters  or  half-dollars 
toward  one  or  another  of  his  depositors.  It  seems  to  a 
casual  observer  that  his  deposits  exceed  his  disburse- 
ments:  probably  this  is  true  in   American   as  well  as 


A    GARDEN    IN    PONTA    DELGADA 


Madeirai]  banks:  or  they  could  not  pay  a  satisfactory 
interest  to  their  customers. 

The  native  needlework  in  Funchal  is  exceptionally 
fine,  and  ladies  from  the  ships  carry  away  some  dainty 
creation  showing  the  deft  skill  of  the  workers.  Among 
||„.  points  of  interest  in  and  about  the  city  are  the 
Cathedral  and  the  Church  of  Nossa  Senhora  <1<>  Monte 

(Our  Lady  of   the  Moun1  I,   Hie  latter  almost    two  thou 


EASE   AND    IDLENESS    POPULAR        31 

sand  feet  above  the  city,  and  undoubtedly  the  most 
beautiful  spot  around  Funchal,  if  any  locality  may  be 
thus  singled  out  in  a  region  of  such  abounding  beauty 
and  sub-tropical  luxuriance.  The  ''Praza,11  or  Public 
Gardens,  and  the  private  gardens  along  the  Rue  Bella 
Vista  and  in  the  suburbs,  invite  a  visit,  while  many 
excursions  in  and  around  the  city  can  be  taken  in  an 
automobile  or  on  ox-sledges. 

The  rooms  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission 
are  near  the  Public  Gardens.  Bishop  Hartzell  person- 
ally assumed  the  financial  responsibility  of  superin- 
tending and  enlarging  the  work,  in  1898,  which  the 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  William  G.  Smart,  and  those  associated 
with  them,  had  been  carrying  forward  for  nearly 
twenty  years.  That  work  includes  a  Home  in  Funchal 
for  missionaries  of  all  churches  and  other  Christian 
people,  mission  work  among  the  Portuguese  of  the 
island,  a  Sailors'  Rest  on  the  shore,  and  religious 
work  on  ships  in  the  harbor.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smart 
are  aided  by  the  Rev.  G.  B.  Nind  and  his  wife  and 
other  assistants,  American  and  Portuguese.  The 
British  and  Foreign  Sailors'  Society  of  London  and 
the  American  Seamen's  Friend  Society  of  New  York 
approve  this  work  and  contribute  annually  to  aid 
these  faithful  laborers  among  the  sailors  who  enter 
this  wonderful  harbor  in  the  East. 

Life  in  Funchal  for  the  rich  is  one  of  ease  and  idle- 
ness. The  residents,  who  for  the  most  part  live  in 
their  "quintas,"  closed-in   gardens  in  the   mountains, 


32        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

travel  in  bullock-carts  and  hammocks  to  and  from  the 
city.  Those  who  can  afford  to  take  their  breakfast  in 
bed  rise  at  eleven,  stroll  in  the  gardens,  and  in  the 
afternoons  ride  into  town  and  play  cards.  In  the  Cas- 
ino there  is  a  daily  concert  and  a  nightly  ball. 

Americans  who  fall  under  the  sway  of  the  "quinta" 
life  declare  that  it  is  ideal — a  lotus-eating  dalliance  in 
a  Garden  of  Eden. 

When  Colonel  Roosevelt  started  for  Africa  on  his 
hunting  expedition  in  1909,  the  first  stop  was  at  Ponta 
Deleada  on  St.  Michael's  Island  in  the  Azores. 
This  island  is  the  largest  and  most  attractive  in  the 
archipelago.  Bicycles  and  motor-cars  are  used  here 
more  than  on  some  other  islands.  The  nature  of  the 
climate — neither  winter  nor  summer — has  led  to  a 
curious  method  of  storing  maize,  which  is  left  in  the 
cob  and  hung  to  a  pyramidal  structure  of  laths ;  such 
an  erection  is  found  in  the  yard  of  nearly  every  cot- 
tage passed  along  the  road. 

What  greatly  impresses  the  visitor  at  every  island, 
and  especially  at  Ponta  Delgada,  are  the  gardens 
attached  to  the  imposing  palaces  of  the  nobility. 
One  of  these  gardens  contains  a  collection  of  several 
thousand  different  species  of  trees  and  is  most  admi- 
rably laid  out.  In  the  adjoining  gardens  are  palms 
which  have  attained  unusual  dimensions.  One  garden 
near  the  pier  is  chiefly  admirable  for  its  most  lovely 
arrangement  of  rockeries  and  tree-ferns. 

Many    of    the    women    of   the    A/ores    wear  a  falling 


CAPOTE    E  CAPELLO 


cloak  of  black  or  dark  blue  material  which  completely 
conceals  the  figure,  surmounted  by  a  monstrous  hood, 
both  fashioned  on 
vigorous  and  defi- 
nite lines,  as  is 
usually  the  case 
with  any  local  cos- 
tume ;  the  hood  is 
puffed  out  by  strips 
of  whalebone  in 
such  a  way  that  the 
face  of  the  wearer  is 
scarcely  visible  to 
the  passer-by.  This 
cloak  is  called  the 
capote  e  capello, 
and  is  said  to  be  of 
remote  Flemish  or 
Algarve  origin  and 
is  jealously  retained 
by  what  may  be 
described  as  the 
Azorean    m  i  d  d  1  e 

class.      The  people  of  the  Azores  are  quiet,  honest  and 
industrious. 


NATIVE    COSTUME,     AZORE    ISLANDS 


CHAPTER    III 
GIBRALTAR    AND     TANGIER 


Seven  weeks  of  sea,  and  twice  seven  days  of  storm 

Upon  the  huge  Atlantic,  and  once  more 

We  ride  in  still  water  and  the  calm 

Of  a  sweet  evening,  screened  by  either  shore 

Of  Spain  and  Barbary.     Our  toils  are  o'er, 

Our  exile  is  accomplished.     Once  again 

We  look  on  Europe,  mistress  as  of  yore 

Of  the  fair  earth  and  of  the  hearts  of  men. 

Ay,  this  is  the  famed  rock  which  Hercules 

And  Goth  and  Moor  bequeathed  us.     At  this  door 

England  stands  sentry.     God  !  to  hear  the  shrill 

Sweet  treble  of  her  fifes  upon  the  breeze, 

And,  at  the  summons  of  the  rock  guns'  roar, 

To  see  her  red-coats  marching  from  the  hill ! 

—Wilfred  Scawen  Blunt. 

STANDING  at  the  western  entrance  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, Gibraltar,  the  world-famed  promontory, 
lias  well  been  termed  "unique  in  position,  in  pictu- 
resqueness  and  in  history.11  Another  triple  title  which 
it  bears  is  "a  fortress,  a  colony  and  a  prison.11  Gi- 
braltar is  not  large  geographically — perhaps  two  miles 
in  extent  north  and  south,  and  less  than  a  mile  east 
and  west.  It  has  three  summits,  two  of  them  being 
about  fourteen  hundred  feet  high — about  the  same 
altitude,  by  the  way,  as  Saranac  Lake  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks.  Appearing  in  the  distance  like  a  crouching 
lion.  Gibraltar  advertises  by   its  physical   appearance 

34 


THE  PRIZE  OF  WAR  FOR  CENTURIES    35 

that  it  is  the  property  of  Great  Britain.  Rising 
abruptly  out  of  the  sea.  a  few  miles  from  the  strait 
bearing  its  name,  the  Rock  forms  an  interesting  pic- 
ture with  the  Sierra  Nevadas  in  the  background. 

The  history  of  Gibraltar  dates  back  to  the  Phoeni- 
cians; later  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the   Romans,  the 


ROCK    OF    GIBRALTAR 


Goths  and  Vandals  and  Moors  succeeding  in  holding 
it.  Ferdinand  IV.  after  fourteen  sieges,  captured 
Gibraltar  in  1309,  but  it  was  lost  again  after  twenty- 
two  years  and  not  regained  by  Spain  until  1462,  when 
the  Moors  were  in  temporary  possession.  It  was  said 
that  Queen  Isabella  took  her  seat  outside  the  fortress, 
vowing  that  she  would  not  leave  it  until  the  Spanish 
flag  should  float  over  the  citadel.      The  gallant  Moor- 


36        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

ish  Governor  saved  her  Majesty  from  death  by  politely 
raising  the  Spanish  flag  for  a  moment. 

For  eight  centuries  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar  was  the 
prize  of  war  between  Spaniard  and  Moor.  Its  very 
name  under  British  rule  attests  the  story  of  the  Moor- 
ish invasion,  Gibraltar  being  merely  Gebel-al-Tarik, 
the  Mountain  of  Tarik  the  Moor,  who  first  took 
possession  of  it,  and  planted  the  Crescent  on  this  one 
of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  Ten  times  the  Cross  and 
Crescent  floated  alternately  from  its  highest  peak ; 
never  was  Christian  or  Moor  in  undisputed  possession 
of  what  both  considered  the  pearl  of  great  price  until 
1598,  when  the  Moor  departed  for  the  last  time  from 
Spanish  soil.  For  more  than  a  century  after  that  date 
Spain  was  master  of  the  situation,  but  she  had  soon 
after  that  to  meet  a  foe,  like  hei'self,  bearing  the  Cross 
as  one  of  its  chief  banners.  In  order  to  determine 
which  of  the  two  claimants  for  the  throne  of  Spain 
should  be  seated,  half  of  Europe  became  involved  in 
the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  In  this  contest 
England  took  a  hand  and  sent  a  squadron  into  the 
Mediterranean.  Accomplishing  little  from  his  cruise, 
Admiral  George  Rooke  decided  to  capture  at  least 
enough  territory  for  a  Landing-place  for  the  Austrian 
pretender  to  the  Spanish  throne,  whom  England  was 
supporting.  Not  long  afterward  the  Archduke  was 
received  ,il  Gibraltar  as  the  lawful  sovereign  of  Spain 
and  proclaimed  King  bv  the  title  of  Charles  III. 
Failing   finally   to   receive   the   throne,    he  could   not 


THE   GREAT  SIEGE  :J7 

retain  Gibraltar,  and  having  secured  the  Rock  as  one 
of  the  accidents  of  war,  England  decided  to  keep  it. 

In  1775,  when  Great  Britain  was  having  some  slight 
controversy  with  her  colonies  across  the  Atlantic,  she 
placed  George  A.  Elliott  in  command  of  the  fortress 
of  Gibraltar.  At  that  time  Lieutenant- General,  he 
was  entrusted  with  a  charge  which  stirred  his  Scotch 
nature  to  its  foundations;  with  his  "heart  of  oak  and 
frame  of  iron"  he  faced  the  combined  enemy  from 
Spain  and  France,  endured  sieges,  repulsed  invaders 
and  became  Lord  Heathfield,  Baron  Gibraltar.  The 
Great  Siege  began  on  June  21,  1779,  when  Spain 
severed  all  communication  with  Gibraltar. 

The  plan  of  Spain  in  her  latest  and  last  attempt  to 
recapture  Gibraltar  was  to  cut  off  all  the  supplies 
from  the  garrison  both  by  land  and  sea;  a  blockade 
sounds  less  barbarous  than  starvation,  and  then  the 
latter  is  not  necessary,  for  surrender  is  always  possible. 
With  a  force  of  ten  thousand  men  in  a  few  weeks 
Spain  had  drawn  a  line  across  the  Neutral  Ground 
which  separates  the  Rock  from  the  mainland.  Access 
to  the  garrison  from  the  land  was  now  impossible; 
only  the  sea  needed  guarding.  A  large  Spanish  fleet 
in  the  bay  undertook  that  task,  but  it  was  unable  to 
make  the  blockade  absolute.  Meat  became  so  scarce 
that  the  hind  quarter  of  an  Algerian  sheep,  with  the 
head  and  tail,  was  sold  for  seven  pounds  and  ten 
shillings,  and  an  English  milch  cow  for  fifty  guineas. 
Bread  was  needed  as  well  as  meat,  and  biscuit  crumbs 


38        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

sold  for  a  shilling  a  pound.  Flour  formerly  used  to 
powder  the  hair  of  soldiers  when  mounting  guard  was 
now  turned  into  food. 

The  rations  of  the  soldiers  were  reduced,  the  Gov- 
ernor sharing  in  the  privations  and  returning  a  present 
of  fruit,  vegetables  and  game  sent  by  the  commander 
of  the  besieging  forces.  His  letter  reveals  the  stuff  of 
which  he  was  made.  While  acknowledging  politely 
the  courtesy,  "Old  Elliott,' '  as  he  was  familiarly 
called,  begged  the  commander  not  to  repeat  it.  as  he 
had  a  fixed  resolution  "never  to  receive  or  procure  by 
any  means  whatever  any  provisions  or  other  commod- 
ity for  his  own  private  use.""  He  added  a  sentence 
which  doubtless  led  the  Spanish  officer  to  realize  that 
he  had  as  the  leader  of  the  English  forces  a  foeman 
worthy  of  his  steel.  "I  make  it  a  point  of  honor," 
he  said,  "to  partake  both  of  plenty  and  scarcity  in 
common  with  the  lowest  of  my  brave  fellow-soldiers.'* 
For  eight  days  at  one  time  he  lived  on  four  ounces  of 
rice  a  day.  His  food  was  mainly  vegetables  and  his 
drink  water.  He  neither  ate  animal  food  nor  drank 
wine.  He  never  slept  more  than  four  hours  at  a  time, 
so  that  he  was  up  earlier  and  later  than  other  men. 
Severe  exercise  with  short  diet  became  habitual  to  the 
brave  men  who  followed  the  example  of  the  Governor. 
On  September  12,  1782,  there  sailed  into  the  Bay 
of  Gibraltar  thirty-nine  ships  from  Spain  and  France, 
raising  the  number  in  service  to  fifty-nine  battleships 
and  many  smaller  vessels;  a   land  force  of  forty  thou- 


RED-HOT   CANNON    BALLS  39 

sand  men  supported  the  fleet.  What  a  combination 
to  attack  ninety-six  pieces  of  artillery  and  seven  thou- 
sand soldiers  and  sailors!  Believing  that  his  ships 
were  shot-proof  and  shell-proof  the  Spanish  Admiral 
was  not  careful  about  keeping  at  long  range,  but 
advanced  near  shore  ready  to  land  his  men  as  soon  as 
the  fortress  guns  had  been  silenced. 

Soon  four  hundred  guns  were  firing  upon  the  town. 
The  English  replied,  but  without  much  effect.  One 
resource  remained,  and  this  Elliott  tried — the  use 
of  hot  shot.  Upward  of  one  hundred  balls  were 
heated  in  an  hour  and  a  quarter  and  rolled  into  the 
cannon's  mouth  and  almost  instantly  hurled  at  the 
ships  of  the  fleet ;  and  this  was  kept  up  during  the 
day.  The  French  engineer  had  foreseen  this  emer- 
gency, and  kept  the  pumps  pouring  water  into  the 
layers  of  sand  where  the  balls  lay  harmless.  Late  in 
the  afternoon  the  Admiral's  ship  was  seen  to  be  on 
fire.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  As  night 
drew  on  the  fires  began  to  spread,  and  powder  maga- 
zines were  flooded  to  prevent  explosions.  By  mid- 
night nine  of  the  ten  battleships  were  in  flames. 
When  it  was  found  that  the  ships  could  not  be  saved, 
consternation  seized  the  crews  and  disorder  prevailed 
as  sailors  and  gunners  threw  themselves  into  the  sea, 
preferring  death  by  drowning  to  being  burned  alive. 

While  the  day  was  won  by  the  English,  the  battle 
was  not  ended  yet.  The  men  who  had  caused  the 
defeat  of  the  enemy  were  men  as  well  as  soldiers,  and 


40        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

at  imminent  peril  they  clambered  aboard  the  burning 
ships  and  rescued  officers  and  men  alike  and  drew 
hundreds  of  Spaniards  into  their  boats  from  the  sea. 
The  victory  was  won,  but  peace  was  not  assured  until 
months  afterward,  when  a  British  frigate  sailed 
through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  bearing  the  word  that 
America  had  won  her  independence,  and  that  Eng- 
land. France  and  Spain  had  signed  a  treaty  of  peace — 
but  England  kept  the  Rock  ! 

To-day  as  one  walks  through  the  streets  of  Gibral- 
tar, or  rides  over  the  waters  of  the  bay,  he  wonders 
whether  the  Great  Siege  could  really  have  taken  place 
there.  He  wonders  also  whether  with  the  new 
methods  of  warfare  even  the  hundred-ton  guns  on  the 
summit  and  concealed  by  shrubbery  could  protect  the 
garrison  if  another  great  military  Power  or  a  union  of 
Powers  should  really  decide  to  try  to  take  it  from 
Great  Britain.  Whether  or  not  the  Rock  should  be 
maintained  as  a  British  fortress  may  be  an  academic 
question,  but  woe  to  that  nation  which  attempts  to  rob 
England  of  this  fortress  and  the  splendid  harbor  which 
is  said  to  have  cost  twenty  million  dollars! 

When  Gibraltar  is  reached  by  travelers,  bargain- 
hunting  begins  in  earnest.  All  the  ladies,  and  some 
gentlemen,  know  what  ought  to  be  secured,  and  appar- 
ently the  shopkeepers  also  know  what  the  visitors 
want,  and  still  more  to  the  point,  the  guides  and  the 
cab-drivers  surmise  their  need  and  where  they  can  best 
be  satisfied.      Why  one    lace  or  shawl  or  brass  shop — 


BARGAINING   IN    EARNEST  41 

and,  in  the  case  of  men,  tobacco  or  wine  shop — should 
be  preferred  to  a  score  of  others  is  best  known  to  the 
thoughtful  and  confiding  guide  on  foot  or  on  the  cab- 
box.  In  every  case  the  choice  is  said  to  be  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  customer,  with  such  explanations  as  these : 

"These  goods  are  better  than  any  others  in  town.'1 
"You  get  the  best  value  for  your  money  at  this 
shop."  "This  man  pays  lower  rent  than  his  rivals, 
therefore  he  is  able  to  take  a  smaller  profit  than 
they.11  "This  man  is  master  and  servant,  and  he  is 
personally  interested  in  being  advertised  by  his  well- 
pleased  customers,  who  will  recommend  him  to  their 
friends  who  will  come  here  next  year." 

The  closing  of  the  gates  of  the  city  at  sundown  is  a 
formidable  affair.  An  officer  an'1  two  red-coats,  the 
former  bearing  the  keys  to  the  gates  and  the  latter 
guarding  them,  perform  this  mission.  Spanish  cabs 
are  not  allowed  to  enter  the  main  part  of  the  city ; 
they  are  all  of  one  pattern  both  in  style  and  color,  so 
as  to  be  easily  recognized  should  their  owners  dare  to 
break  the  rules,  and  they  are  obliged  to  be  outside  the 
gates  before  half-past  six  under  penalty  of  a  heavy 
fine.  A  stream  of  people,  suggesting  a  street  leading 
to  a  subway  station  in  New  York  or  Boston  after  the 
shops  are  closed,  is  passed  as  one  drives  out  across  the 
Neutral  Ground  to  the  Spanish  territory  from  which 
he  gets  the  eastern  view  of  the  Rock  which  Spanish 
soldiers  once  scaled  in  their  endeavor  to  dislodge  the 
English  garrison. 


42        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Three  hours  across  the  sea  from  Gibraltar,  on  the 
African  coast,  lies  Tangier,  the  representative  city  of 
Morocco,  which  is  an  empire  in  common  with  other 
parts  of  Northern  Africa  and  follows  the  course  of 
history  in  which  Phoenicians,  Romans,  Goths  suid 
Moslems  have  played  their  parts.  To-day,  with  Eng- 
land dominating  Egypt  and  the  Soudan,  France  is 
having  the  upper  hand  in  Morocco.  Germany  does 
not  like  this  arrangement,  and  there  may  be  a  change 
in  the  not  distant  future. 

The  markets  of  Tangier  form  the  center  of  life  for 
the  town.  They  are  little  more  than  great  bare  open 
places  covered  with  stones  and  lined  with  bazaars. 
Thousands  of  people,  shrouded  figures,  sell  herbs  and 
eggs  and  everything  else  that  is  eatable,  from  dates  to 
mutton.  It  is  a  picturesque  sight,  with  the  sun 
trickling  through  the  palm-leaf  mats  overhead  on  the 
piles  of  yellow  melons,  and  with  throngs  of  camels 
busy  with  their  grain,  and  dancing  men  and  snake- 
charmers  and  story-tellers  clamoring  on  every  side. 


CHAPTER    IV 
GRANADA    AND    THE    ALHAMBRA 


And  there  the  Alhambra  still  recalls 

Aladdin's  palace  of  delight : 
"Allah  il  Allah  !"  through  its  halls 
Whispers  the  fountain  as  it  falls, 
The  Darro  darts  beneath  its  walls, 

The  hills  with  snow  are  white. 

Ah,  yes  ;  the  hills  are  white  with  snow, 
And  cold  with  blasts  that  bite  and  freeze; 

But  in  the  happy  vale  below 

The  orange  and  pomegranate  grow, 

And  wafts  of  air  toss  to  and  fro 
The  blossoming  almond-trees. 
—Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow,  in  "Castles  in  Spain." 

THE  traveler  in  the  Mediterranean  who  wishes  to 
visit  Granada  in  Spain  and  study  at  first  hand 
the  palace  and  fortress  constructed  by  the  Moors,  and 
immortalized  by  Washington  Irving,  may  do  so  from 
Gibraltar.  It  is  a  ride  of  ten  hours,  and  one  may  go 
and  return  directly,  or  include  Cadiz  and  Seville  in 
the  journey.  In  either  case  he  stops  at  Bobadilla  for 
luncheon  and  traverses  the  La  Vega  de  Granada  in  the 
afternoon,  the  train  crossing  viaducts  and  rushing 
through  tunnels,  furnishing  views  of  rivers  and  moun- 
tains which  cause  constant  exclamations  of  delight  and 
surprise.  One  who  has  thought  of  the  country  as 
poverty-stricken,  gains  here  an  idea  of  the  possibilities 

43 


44        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

of  Spain  as  he  passes  fertile  farms  and  extensive  olive- 
groves.  Since  it  is  possible  to  accomplish  so  much 
with  the  antiquated  methods  of  farming  which  are 
everywhere  apparent,  what  would  not  the  substitution 
of  modern  farming  do  for  Spain  ! 

An  hour  or  more  from  the  place  where  the  Spaniards 
expelled  the  Moors  from  Southern  Europe  a  long 
stretch  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas.  or  "the  Snow  Moun- 
tains,''  is  seen.  The  afternoon  glow  rests  on  the 
mountain-peaks,  and  the  remark  is  frequently  heard. 
''This  view  is  worth  the  entire  cost  of  our  journey. " 

As  in  the  Moorish  States,  the  downfall  of  Granada 
was  caused  by  internal  factions,  and  finally  the  Catho- 
lic kings  used  these  dissensions  to  further  the  great 
aim  of  their  lives — the  expulsion  of  the  last  Moor 
from  Spanish  soil.  They  entered  Granada  on  Janu- 
ary 2,  1492,  the  year  of  the  discovery  of  America. 
The  unheroic  end  of  Boabdil.  the  last  of  the  Moorish 
kings,  has  been  enshrined  in  legend.  As  he  was  cross- 
ing the  Sierra  Nevadas  he  turned  on  the  spot  now 
called  "El  Ultimo  Suspiro  del  Moro"  for  a  last  look 
at  the  fair  city  which  he  had  lost.  Tears  filled  his 
eyes  as  he  gazed,  but  his  stern  and  resolute  mother, 
Aisha,  taunted  him  with  the  words:  "Weep  not  like  a 
woman  lor  what  you  could  not  defend  like  a  man." 

'I  he  taking  of  Granada  by  the  Christians  was  the 
subject  of  great  rejoicing  throughout  Christendom, 
and  a  special  Tc  DeuiJl  was  sung  at  St.  Paul's.  Lon- 
don, bv  the  order  of  Henry  \  II. 


THE    GENERALIFFE    NEAR    THE    ALHAMBHA 


46        THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

"There    was    crying   in    Granada   when    the   sun    was 

going  down ; 
Some  calling  on  the  Trinity,  some  calling  on  Mahoun. 
Here  passed  away  the   Koran,  therein  the  Cross  was 

borne. 
And  here  was  heard  the  Christian  bell,  and  there  the 

Moorish  horn.11 

The  city  of  Granada,  which  is  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  that  name,  as  it  was  of  the  Moorish  king- 
dom, contains  sixty  or  seventy  thousand  people  and  is 
for  the  most  part  level.  The  one  exception  is  the  hill 
upon  which  stands  the  Alhambra.  From  the  summit 
of  this  hill  one  may  see  for  many  miles  in  every  direc- 
tion. Here  it  was  that  the  army  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  triumphed  over  the  Moslems.  In  Granada 
Columbus  received  the  commission  whit!)  enabled  him 
to  start  on  his  voyage  of  discovery  resulting  in  the 
finding  of  the  new  continent.  If  the  Alhambra  were 
not  in  Granada,  one  would  wish  to  visit  the  city  to 
see  the  famous  Cathedral,  in  the  Royal  Chape]  of 
which  lie  the  remains  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
The  Carthusian  Convent,  built  by  the  monks  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  Is  also  worthy  of  a  visit. 

Granada  is  a  city  of  antiquity,  but  that  part  of  it 
through  which  one  drives  from  the  station  to  the 
Alhambra  is  modern.  Main  of  the  buildings  have 
been  erected  within  the  Lsl  one  or  two  decades,  and  a 
new  hotel,  one  of  the  best  in  Spain,  was  opened  in 
1910  with  every   modern   convenience,  including  lifts 


THE   FASCINATING   ALHAMBRA         47 

similar  to  the  elevators  used  in  private  houses  in  New 
York.  The  city  is  situated  at  the  base  of  two  moun- 
tain spurs,  which  ascend  gradually  from  west  to  east 
toward  the  Cerra  del  Sol.  Some  travelers  speak  of 
the  city  as  it  is  now  as  a  '"living  ruin'1 ;  some  people 


PI  Jtfrfr 

:^hH         LIE  T~  f  iih    i  nilij  /                        -  9^  H 

THE    ALHAMBRA 


see  only  slums  in  a  great  city.      It  is  ever  true  that 
men,  as  a  class,  see  what  they  are  looking  for ! 

"Two  men  looked  out  through  prison  bars; 
One  man  saw  mud,  the  other  stars. 

But  men  go  to  Granada  to  see  the  Alhambra,  which 
"charms,  fascinates,  interests  and  repays  every  trav- 
eler who  visits  that  part  of  Andalusia.1'  The  Moors 
began  to  build  the  Alhambra  in   1248;  the   Arabic 


48        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

word  which  gives  the  name  to  this  combination  of 
fortified  castle,  palace  and  summer  resort  signifies 
"red,'1  the  color  of  the  bricks  that  form  its  exterior. 
The  plot  on  which  the  group  of  buildings  is  placed 
covers  twenty-six  acres.  The  palace  occupies  only  a 
part  of  the  fortress  which  crowns  the  crest  of  a  lofty 
hill  overlooking  the  city  and  forming  a  spur  of  the 
Sierra  Nevadas.  As  Washington  Irving  is  respon- 
sible, by  his  visit  to  Spain  more  than  eighty  years 
ago,  for  that  of  many  thousands  of  his  countrymen, 
may  we  stand  with  him  for  a  moment  and  see  the 
Alhambra  through  his  eyes? 

"I  picture  to  myself,11  says  the  genial  Knicker- 
bocker, ''the  scene  when  this  palace  was  filled  with  the 
conquering  host — that  mixture  of  mitered  prelate  and 
shorn  monk  and  steel-clad  knight  and  silken  courtier; 
when  crosses  and  crosiers  and  religious  standards  were 
mingled  with  proud  armorial  ensigns  and  the  banners 
of  the  haughty  chiefs  of  Spain,  and  flaunted  in  triumph 
through  these  Moslem  halls.  I  picture  to  myself 
Columbus,  the  future  discoverer  of  the  world,  taking 
his  stand  in  a  remote  corner,  the  humble  and  neglected 
spectator  of  the  pageant.  I  see  in  imagination  the 
Catholic  sovereigns  prostrating  themselves  before  the 
altar  and  pouring  forth  thanks  for  their  victory,  while 
the  vaults  resound  with  sacred  minstrelsy  and  the 
deep-toned  Te  Drum.  .  .  .  The  transient  illusion  is 
over;  the  pageant  melts  from  the  fancy;  monarch, 
priest  and  warrior  return  into  oblivion  with  the  poor 


THE   GARDEN    OF   ALLAH 


49 


Moslems  over  whom  they  exulted.  The  hall  of  their 
triumph  is  waste  and  desolate.  The  bat  flits  about  its 
twilight  vaults,  and 
the  owl  hoots  from 
the  neighboring 
tower  of  Comares. ' ' 
After  a  ride  to 
the  old  Monastery 
on  the  mountain- 
side and  through 
old  Granada,  one 
may  make  a  careful 
inspection  of  the 
splendid  Cathedral 
built  by  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  to 
commemorate  the 
expulsion  of  the 
Moors  from  Spain. 
He  may  walk 
through  the  grounds 
of  the  Generaliffe, 
the  summer  palace 
of  the  last  Moorish 
king  and  the  home 

of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  This  beautiful  structure, 
overlooking  the  city  and  the  Alhambra,  with  its 
spacious  grounds,  is  owned  by  an  Italian  gentleman, 
a  descendant  of  Queen  Isabella.      The  place  is,  as  its 


STREET    SCENE    IN    GRANADA 


50        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

name  indicates,  a  veritable  "Garden  of  Allah." 
Cypress-trees  and  orange-trees  line  the  walks  between 
which  reposes  a  fountain  in  the  midst  of  a  miniature 
lake. 

If  one's  thoughts  wander  from  the  Moors  who  erected 
this  wonderful  group  of  buildings,  and  the  Christians 
who  later  occupied  them,  to  Washington  Irving  who 
has  recreated  them,  it  must  be  charged  to  the  power  of 
the  immortal  genius  who  gave  the  English-speaking 
world  "The  Alhambra. "  Americans  are  as  anxious 
to  step  in  the  room  which  he  occupied  when  he  was 
repeopling  these  halls  and  courts  as  if  they  were  real 
hero-worshipers — as  perhaps  some  of  them  are.  The 
courts  and  baths  and  halls,  and  the  church,  formerly 
a  mosque,  with  their  architecture  and  color  wholly 
Moorish,  with  here  and  there  a  dash  of  Spanish, 
mainly  used  in  restoration — may  one  share  his  inabil- 
ity to  do  justice  to  the  occasion  with  another  Ameri- 
can traveler? 

"This  morning,-"  says  Mr.  Longfellow,  'T  visited 
the  Alhambra,  an  enchanted  palace,  whose  exquisite 
beauty  baffles  the  power  of  language  to  describe.  Its 
outlines  may  be  drawn,  its  halls  and  galleries,  its 
courtyards  and  its  fountains  numbered ;  but  what 
skilful  limner  shall  portray  in  words  its  curious  archi- 
tecture, its  grotesque  ornaments,  the  quaint  devices, 
the  rich  tracery  of  the  walls,  the  ceilings  inlaid  with 
pearl  and  tortoise-shell?  What  language  shall  paint 
the  magic  hues  of  light  and  shade,  the  shimmer  of  the 


THE   COURT    OF   LIONS  51 

sunbeam  as  it  falls  upon  the  marble  pavement,  and 
the  brilliant  panels  inlaid  with  many-colored  stones?" 

A  single  court  may  be  described  at  a  venture,  how- 
ever, as  a  faint  illustration  of  what  one  may  see  in  this 
truly  enchanted  palace,  begun  perhaps  a  thousand 
years  ago.  The  Court  of  Lions,  one  of  the  most  strik- 
ing features  of  the  palace,  gets  its  name  from  the  fact 
that  twelve  stone  lions  bear  the  large  fountain  basin  in 
the  center.  The  designer  of  this  court  was  the  Moor 
Aben  Cencid.  It  was  begun  in  1377,  in  the  reign  of 
Mohammed  V.  The  court,  which  is  ninety-two  feet 
long  and  fifty-two  feet  broad,  is  surrounded  by  an 
arcade  with  stilted  arches.  At  each  end  the  arcade 
juts  out  in  the  form  of  a  graceful  pavilion,  sur- 
mounted by  a  charming  wooden  roof  in  the  form 
appropriately  known  as  the  "half-orange. ^  There 
are  in  all  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  columns,  stand- 
ing either  singly  or  in  pairs  or  in  groups  of  three  (at 
the  corners).  The  walls  they  bear  are  only  of  wood 
and  plaster,  but  the  exquisite  fretwork  decoration  in 
the  latter  looks  as  if  carved  in  ivory.  The  court 
originally  contained  half  a  dozen  orange-trees,  but  it 
is  now  floored  with  slabs  of  marble,  while  the  arcades 
are  paved  with  blue  and  white  tiles. 

"Unhappy  he  who  lost  all  this!1''  was  the  sage 
exclamation  of  Charles  V.  when  looking  upon  the 
Alhambra  in  1526. 

Seville,  on  the  banks  of  the  Guadalquiver.  is  one  of 
the  most  charming  cities  in  Spain.      Its  dry,  salubrious 


52        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

climate  has  been  compared  to  that  of  Cairo,  and  there 
is  never  a  day  in  the  year  when  the  sun  does  not  shine. 
Seville  is  remarkable  for  its  abundant  remains  of  the 
wealth  and  power  of  the  Mohammedans,  who  ruled 
in  the  city  for  nearly  550  years.      It  has  given  birth 


GARDEN    OF   THE    ALCAZAR;     SEVILLE 

to  three  Roman  Emperors,  Hadrian,  Trajan  and 
Theodosius;  to  the  immortal  Magellan,  and  to  two 
great  painters,  Murillo  and  Velasquez.  The  Alcazar, 
or  House  of  Csesar,  was  the  residence  of  the  Moorish 
and  Catholic  kings,  and  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  remarkable  buildings  in  Seville.  The  gem  in  this 
glorious    building    is    the    "•Hall    of     Ambassadors," 


SEVILLE    CATHEDRAL 


53 


literally  from  marble  floor  to  crystal  and  mother-of- 
pearl-lined  roof  one  blaze  of  iris  hues.  The  garden 
is  most  beautiful.  The  walls,  fountains  and  kiosks 
are  of  Moorish  origin,  and  every  sovereign  from  Caesar 
downward  has  left  his  mark  in  this  delightful  spot. 
The  Cathedral   is  one  of  the   most  magnificent  in 


TOMB    OF    COLUMBUS    IN    THE    SEVILLE    CATHEDRAL 

Europe.  It  is  Gothic  in  style,  constructed  of  white 
granite  and  supported  by  sixty-eight  immense  col- 
umns. Among  the  paintings  of  Murillo  and  other 
artists  in  the  Cathedral  is  the  celebrated  picture  of 
Saint  Anthony  looking  up  at  a  company  of  angels  in 
one  of  his  dreams.  The  saint  was  cut  from  the  pic- 
ture some  years  ago  and  sold  in  New  York  for  a  high 
price.      When  the  theft  was  discovered  the  purchaser 


54 


THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


sent  it  back  as  a  present  to  the  Cathedral  authorities, 
and  it  was  replaced  in  the  canvas  where  it  may  be 
seen.  At  the  end  of  the  center  aisle  of  the  Cathedral 
is  the  Royal  Chapel  where  the  Royal  Family  formerly 
worshiped  and  where  lie  the  remains  of  the  conqueror 
of  Spain,  Ferdinand  III.,  and  his  wife   Beatrice.      At 


SEVILLE    CATHEDRAL 


one  side  of  the  center  aisle  is  the  great  sarcophagus 
containing  the  body  of  Columbus  which  was  taken 
from  Havana  at  the  end  of  the  Spanish-American 
War. 

Americans  feel  at  home  when  nearing  the  Cathe- 
dral, for  attached  to  it  is  an  immense  tower  known  as 
"La  Giralda,"  which  Stanford  White  copied  when 
drawing  his  plans  for  the  Madison  Square  Garden  in 


WHERE   JONAH    PLANNED   TO    GO      55 

New  York.  From  the  top  of  the  tower  one  can  see 
the  entire  city  and  the  river  upon  which  it  lies.  In 
the  belfry  are  twenty-four  bells  which  require  forty- 
two  persons  to  ring  them.  But  it  is  seldom  that  they 
are  all  rung  at  once.  Erected  in  1196  by  the  Moors 
as  an  observatory — the  first  in  Europe — the  fate  of 
the  Giralda  was  not  a  little  characteristic :  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Moors  it  was  turned  into  a  bell  tower, 
the  Spaniards  being  ignorant  of  its  real  purpose. 

Cadiz  is  built  at  the  extremity  of  a  long  and  narrow 
peninsula.  Its  shape  has  been  compared  to  that  of  a 
frying-pan.  The  city  is  surrounded  by  massive  walls. 
Its  houses  are  overhung  by  picturesque  balconies,  and 
many  of  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that  friends  can 
shake  hands  over  the  carriages  that  are  picking  their 
way  with  difficulty  underneath.  The  Convent  of  the 
Capuchin  Friars  has  above  the  main  altar  of  the 
church  the  last  picture  which  Murillo  painted,  repre- 
senting the  Marriage  of  Santa  Catalina.  After  he 
had  placed  the  picture  the  artist  climbed  a  small 
ladder  to  apply  the  last  touches  to  his  great  work. 
One  foot  slipped  and  he  fell,  dying  soon  after  from 
the  injuries  received. 

Cadiz  is  said  to  be  the  Tarshish  of  Scripture,  and  if 
so,  it  was  for  this  city  that  Jonah  started  when  he  paid 
his  fare  at  Jaffa.  Ten  miles  from  the  landing-place 
is  the  old  town  of  La  Rabida,  the  temporary  stopping- 
place  of  Christopher  Columbus  while  waiting  for  his 
commission  in  1492. 


CHAPTER    V 
ALGIERS      AND      MALTA 


Now,  one  morn,  land  appeared— a  speck 
Dim,  trembling,  betwixt  sea  and  sky. 
"Avoid  it  !"  cried  our  pilot,  "check 
The  shout— restrain  the  eager  eye  !" 
But  the  heaving  sea  was  black  behind 
For  many  a  night  and  many  a  day, 
And  land,  but  though  a  rock,  drew  nigh  ; 
So  we  broke  the  cedar  poles  away, 
Let  the  purple  awning  flap  in  the  wind, 
And  a  statue  bright  was  on  every  deck  ! 
We  shouted,  every  man  of  us, 
And  steered  right  into  the  harbor  thus, 
With  pomp  and  paean  glorious. 

—Robert  Browning. 

THE  Arab  proverb  may  not  be  strictly  true  that 
'"Algiers  is  a  diamond  set  in  an  emerald  frame,1'' 
but  what  is  a  cruise  without  poetry,  and  what  form  of 
poetry  could  surpass  this  proverb?  The  palms  and 
vineyards  and  orange-groves  that  abound  around  this, 
the  largest  city  in  the  province  of  Algeria,  make  it  a 
veritable  "Garden  of  the  Gods/1 

A  carriage-drive  of  three  hours  around  the  city, 
with  occasional  stops  at  palaces  and  gardens  and 
museums,  through  narrow  streets  and  out  on  the  hill- 
side, with  its  beautiful  view  of  the  Mediterranean,  is 
one  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  A  visit  to  one  of  the 
Leading  mosques  and  a  stroll   through  the  Arab  quar- 

56 


THE    INHABITANTS    OF   ALGIERS        57 

ter,  through  alleys  so  narrow  that  when  a  donkey  and 
a  man  met  each  other  the  more  gentle  of  the  two 
would  back  down  to  the  nearest  doorway  and  let  the 
other  pass,  is  a  novel  experience.  The  streets  and 
shops  are  full  of  men  and  boys,  and  an  occasional 
woman  closely  veiled  is  seen,  but  the  city  is  predomi- 
nated, so  far  as  the  streets  are  concerned,  by  men. 

In  his  "Fantasy  of  Mediterranean  Travel,'1  S.  G. 
Bayne  has  given  this  view  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Algiers,  in  most  of  which  sentiments  all  travelers  can 
heartily  concur:  "This  people  is  made  up  of  many 
breeds.  We  saw  thin,  bandy-legged  Arabs;  fat, 
burly  Turks ;  ramrod-like  Bedouins ;  Kalougis  with  a 
complexion  suggesting  sole  leather;  Greeks  with  frilled 
petticoats ;  Romans,  of  course,  with  the  toga ;  Kabeles 
with  black  hair  and  wearing  a  robe  with  a  big  gasbag ; 
Moors  with  the  duke's  nose  and  spindle  shanks ;  Mo- 
hammedans carrying  bannocks  with  holes  in  them ; 
and  dragomen  with  "bakshish1  stamped  on  every  de- 
partment of  their  anatomy.  But  beneath  the  furtive 
glance  and  in  the  wicked  eyes  you  see  the  cutthroat 
still  lurking,  awaiting  the  first  opportunity  to  embark 
again  in  the  trade  that  is  close  to  their  hearts,  although 
the  only  active  pirates  here  now  are  car-drivers. 
Every  breed  has  its  own  outlandish  costume,  with  a 
large  range  of  startling  colors  in  robes,  turbans  and 
slippers,  but  their  shanks  are  bare,  thin  and  brick  red, 
an  easy  mark  for  flies.  A  considerable  percentage  of 
their  time  is  devoted  to  stamping  their  feet  to  shake 


58        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

off  these  pests,  which  somehow  do  not  seem  to  know 
they  are  not  wanted  and  keep  the  lazy  rascals  busy, 
thus  preventing  them  from  devoting  the  entire  day  to 
sleep  and  the  worship  of  Allah.  To  round  out  the 
picture  we  must  not  forget  the  French  Zouave  Regi- 
ment— fine-looking  men.  with  their  elaborately  frogged 
jackets,  and  trousers  like  big  red  bags,  large  enough 
to  make  balloons  if  filled  with  gas,  and  the  whole 
topped  off  with  a  scarlet  'swagger1  fez  with  a  tassel 
hanging  down  to  the  waist. " 

When  the  Romans  conquered  Algeria  the  country, 
according  to  Pliny,  was  a  valuable  possession.  In  the 
fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era  the  Vandals  secured 
the  country  and  the  Arabs  two  hundred  years  later. 
For  five  centuries  the  princes  of  Arab  blood  made 
the  northwestern  coast  of  Africa  the  dread  of  every 
Mediterranean  vessel.  It  is  neither  poetry  nor  prov- 
erb, but  actual  truth  expressed  in  simple  prose,  to  say 
that  these  pirates  were  "friends  to  the  sea  and  enemies 
to  all  that  sailed  thereon. "  Spain  tried  her  hand. 
She  paid  a  dear  price  for  her  temerity.  France  sent  a 
licet,  but  the  chivalry  of  the  empire  followed  the  fate 
of  Spain's  brave  men  and  the  Knights  of  Malta  who 
assisted  them.  The  Algerians  swept  the  coast  of 
France  with  fire  and  sword,  and  Louis  XIV.  laid  Al- 
giers in  ashes,  hut  still  piracy  did  not  cease. 

It  remained  for  an  American  to  stop  the  scourge  of 
the  Mediterranean.  In  June.  1815,  Commodore  De- 
catur   forced   the    l)e\   at  Algiers  to  release  all  Ameri- 


60        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

cans  held  in  slavery.  It  had  been  customary  to 
demand  a  ransom  of  $3,000  for  captured  Americans. 
As  late  as  1812  the  United  States  paid  $22,000  in 
tribute  in  a  single  year.  When  Commodore  Decatur 
appeared  in  the  harbor  with  the  American  fleet  the 
Dey.  realizing  that  the  city  was  in  danger  of  destruc- 
tion, promised  to  make  an  exception  in  the  case  of 
America  and  not  exact  further  tribute,  but  the  wily 
Algerian  asked  as  a  special  favor  that  in  order  not  to 
lose  prestige  with  other  nations  he  might  receive  an 
annual  gift  of  some  powder.  To  this  request  the 
Commodore  replied: 

"If  the  Dey  takes  the  powder  he  must  take  the  balls. 

too. " ' 

This  was  getting  too  much  for  his  bargain,  and 
American  powder  has  not  been  exacted  since  that  time. 

In  the  following  year,  1816,  the  English  Parliament 
took  steps  to  make  the  African  States  recognize  the 
law  of  nations,  and  12.000  Christian  slaves  were 
released.  Not  long  after  that  Algeria  became  a 
French  colony.  It  now  boasts  of  a  population  of 
about  5.000.000  people,  about  150.000  of  whom  live 
in  Algiers  and  its  suburbs,  and  two-thirds  of  this 
number  arc  Europeans.  When  one  reaches  the  harbor 
he  sees  the  mole  of  the  penon.  which  was  formerly  a 
Spanish  fort  connected  with  the  mainland  by  a  stone 
breakwater,  which  it  is  said  it  took  30,000  Christian 
slaves  three  years  to  build. 

The  palace  of  Mustapha   Pasha  is  a  line  example  of 


NOVEL    FORM    OF    MARTYRDOM        61 

Moorish  architecture,  and  is  now  used  as  a  public 
library  and  museum.  In  it  one  sees  many  fine  speci- 
mens of  tiles  and  tapestries  and  statues  recovered  from 
ruined  cities.  One  of  the  most  attractive  objects  of 
interest  is  a  plaster  cast  of  the  Christian  martyr  Geron- 
imo  writhing  in  death.  Writers  tell  us  that  he  was 
put  alive  into  a  block  of  concrete,  which  was  afterward 
built  into  a  wall  of  a  fort.  Fifty  years  later  a  Span- 
ish writer  named  Haedo  described  the  martyrdom  in  a 
book  on  Algeria,  and  while  he  located  the  exact  place 
where  the  concrete  block  could  be  found,  the  story  was 
believed  to  have  little  or  no  foundation.  In  1853, 
when  the  walls  of  this  particular  fort  were  torn  down, 
the  block  was  found  in  the  exact  spot  mentioned,  and 
contained  a  perfect  mold  of  the  martyr's  face  and 
figure,  showing  even  the  cords  with  which  his  hands 
and  feet  had  been  bound.  By  filling  the  cavity  with 
plaster-of- Paris  the  model  was  prepared  which  is  now 
shown  in  the  museum. 

It  is  of  interest  to  recall  that  Africa  and  not  Rome 
gave  rise  to  the  development  of  Western  Christianity. 
Tertullian,  in  the  second  century,  Cyprian  in  the  third, 
and  Augustine  in  the  fourth,  among  the  stalwart 
leaders  of  the  early  Church,  all  belonged  to  Northern 
Africa,  and  the  oldest  Latin  translation  of  the  Bible, 
upon  which  Jerome  founded  his  Vulgate  Version,  was 
made  in  Africa.  The  theology  which  claims  Ter- 
tullian as  its  father  and  Augustine  as  its  crowning 
glory  was  born  on  the  southern   and  not  the  northern 


62        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

shore  of  the  Mediterranean.  At  the  Council  of 
Carthage,  A.  D.  253,  Millman  tells  us  that  ''there 
were  no  fewer  than  eighty-seven  bishops  present  and 
an  equal  number  of  presbyters,  and  that  there  were 
580  sees  between  Cyrene  and  the  Atlantic.'" 

Speaking  of  sees,  one  is  reminded  of  Bishop  Potter's 
answer  to  the  young  lady  who  was  walking  with  the 
genial  ecclesiastic  one  Sunday  morning  at  Long 
Branch.  Looking  out  upon  the  ocean  with  a  longing 
glance  and  wishing  at  the  same  time  to  get  spiritual 
advice  upon  the  problem  distressing  her  soul,  she 
turned  to  the  bishop  and  said  appealingly : 

'"Bishop,  is  it  wrong  to  take  an  ocean  bath  on  Sun- 
day?" 

The  bishop,  remembering  that  he  was  in  New  Jersey 
and  not  in  New  York,  replied  with  dignity : 

"My  dear  child,  this  is  not  my  see.11 

While  the  new  town  of  Algiers  is  interesting,  it 
resembles  Marseilles  or  Liverpool  more  than  a  town  on 
African  soil.  The  French  are  rapidly  transferring 
I  he  town  from  Moorish  into  European  style. 

It  will  take  a  long  time,  however,  to  replace  the 
crowded  city  with  one  of  modern  buildings.  If  the 
new  part  is  interesting,  the  old  part  is  unique.  One 
must  not  be  too  fastidious,  however,  as  he  picks  his  way 
through  the  narrow  streets,  perhaps  brushing  a  wall 
on  one  of  both  sides  with  his  elbows.  It  is  said 
that  the  dirt  which  chokes  the  sides  of  these  alleys  is 
to  tlu'  dirt    of  Italy  as  the  dirt  of  Italy  is  to  the  dirt  of 


NOT   FASTIDIOUS   IN    A   MARKET       63 

Whitechapel ;  but  so  fascinating  are  the  old  shops 
with  their  brass  work  and  embroidery  that  ladies  es- 
pecially forget  their  fear  of  typhoid  fever  and  similar 
diseases  while  they  stand  bargaining  for  rare  examples 
of  Algerian  work. 

The  mosques  of  Algiers  are  extremely  interesting, 
and  entering  them  one  sees  the  great  care  taken  by  the 
worshipers  to  appear  clean  and  tidy  in  their  sacred 
edifice.  The  walls  are  devoid  of  pictures  and  statues, 
in  striking  contrast  to  the  cathedrals  in  Spain.  Cheap 
rugs  lie  on  the  floor  which  no  infidel  foot  can  rest 
upon  until  it  is  covered  with  a  sacred  slipper.  In  the 
back  of  the  mosque  there  is  a  fountain,  and  before 
going  over  the  sacred  rugs  the  worshipers  bathe  their 
faces,  arms,  necks  and  chests,  and  then  wash  their 
feet,  waiting  for  the  flesh  to  dry  without  the  use  of 
towels.  Then  they  pick  up  their  sandals  and  outer 
garments,  and  walking  leisurely  to  one  of  the  pillars, 
they  bow,  touching  the  floor  three  times  with  their 
foreheads,  entirely  oblivious  of  the  curious.  The 
effect  is  impressive  in  the  extreme.  Every  man  seems 
to  be  in  the  actual  presence  of  his  Maker,  and  a  non- 
Moslem  feels  out  of  place  amid  such  devotion. 

Malta  has  been  termed  "England's  eye  in  the  Med- 
iterranean," and  one  feels  as  his  ship  threads  her  way 
through  the  narrow  entrance  in  the  harbor  and  turn- 
ing around  backs  up  alongside  the  splendid  break- 
water in  full  view  of  the  overshadowing  guns,  that 
the  appellation  is  well   deserved.       Great   Britain   is 


64        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

justly  proud  of  her  Mediterranean  Squadron,  which 
can  reach  the  harbor  of  Alexandria  or  Piraeus  or  enter 
the  Dardanelles  at  short  notice,  if  "moral  pressure"  is 
needed  at  any  place. 

The  main  street  of  Valetta,  the  principal  city  of  the 
island,  is  lined  with  fine  houses,  having  little  stone- 
covered  balconies  which  lend  a  peculiar  character  to 
the  buildings.  The  principal  places  of  interest,  aside 
from  the  Government  Palace  and  the  Church  of  St. 
John,  are  the  Opera  House  and  the  Union  Club.  On 
the  church  the  Knights  lavished  their  riches. 

The  Church  of  St.  John,  as  the  Cathedral  is  called, 
is  constantly  thronged  with  visitors.  This  famous 
edifice  was  begun  in  1573,  but  its  special  interest  cen- 
ters about  the  Knights  of  Malta,  the  marble  slabs  in 
the  nave  of  the  church,  placed  among  the  mosaics  in 
the  floor,  being  memorials  of  the  knights  and  nobles 
who  are  buried  underneath  the  coats-of-arms,  musical 
instruments,  angels,  crowns,  palms,  skeletons  and  other 
singular  devices.  These  were  walked  on  by  the  curi- 
ous and  thoughtless  on  their  way  to  see  the  splendid 
marble  statue  in  a  single  piece  of  "John  Baptizing 
Jesus,"  back  of  the  high  altar  or  cross,  the  nave  to 
the  chapel  at  the  left  containing  the  great  painting  of 
the  "Beheading  of  St.  John,"  by  Caravaggio.  In 
the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  there  is  a  silver 
railing,  preserved  from  the  rapacity  of  Napoleon's 
soldiers  by  a  priest,  who  painted  it  black.  In  this 
chapel  also,  underneath  the  altar,  are  the  ancient  keys 


MEMORIES  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL      65 

of  Jerusalem,  Acre  and  Rhodes,  the  former  residences 
of  the  Knights  before  they  came  to  Malta.  The  Tap- 
estry Room  and  the  Armory  Hall  in  the  Government 
Palace  and  a  peculiar  chapel  known  as  the  Chapel  of 
Bones,  especially  attract  visitors.  It  is  said  that  there 
are  two  thousand  skulls  arranged  on  the  walls  and 
ceiling  of  this  underground  structure,  not  to  speak  of 
legs  and  arms  innumerable. 

When  one  is  approaching  Malta  he  should  refresh 
his  memory  on  the  experiences  of  Paul,  and  read  again 
the  story  of  his  shipwreck  on  the  way  from  Jerusalem 
to  Rome.  Standing  on  the  shore  of  St.  Paul's  Bay  a 
few  miles  from  Valetta  one  recalls  that  after  the  damage 
wrought  by  Euroclydon,  when  the  ship  which  bore 
Paul  toward  Rome  ''could  not  bear  up  into  the 
wind,"  in  the  expressive  English  of  the  Authorized 
Version,  they '"let  her  drive.11  He  sees  again  with 
Luke  the  vision  of  the  angel  who  assured  Paul  that 
Italy  and  not  Malta  was  his  final  destination,  but  that 
a  temporary  stop  must  be  made  at  Malta.  He  remem- 
bers also  that  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  passengers 
and  members  of  the  crew  escaped  to  shore  under  PauPs 
direction,  some  by  swimming  and  some  on  boards  and 
some  on  broken  pieces  of  the  ship.  The  story  of 
Paul's  kindly  reception  by  the  people  of  Malta,  though 
they  were  "barbarous  people,11  and  his  apparently 
miraculous  escape  from  the  viper  which  fastened  on 
his  hand,  and  his  remaining  on  the  island  three 
months  until  the  party  was  picked  up  by  a  ship  from 


66        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Alexandria  on  its  way  to  Sicily  and  Italy — all  this 
and  more  is  in  the  mind  and  on  the  lips  of  every  Chris- 
tian who  visits  this  memorable  place. 

St.  Paul's  Tower  and  the  Chapel  erected  near  it, 
with  crude  paintings  and  frescoes  illustrating  the  fa- 
mous shipwreck,  may  be  seen  at  this  day.  A  great 
statue  of  Paul  was  erected  by  the  Maltese  on  Selmoon 
Island  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  on  February  10,  the 
alleged  date  of  the  disaster,  a  great  festival  is  held. 
At  Citta  Vecchia,  the  ancient  capital  of  Malta,  one 
may  see  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul,  built  on  the  sup- 
posed site  of  the  residence  of  Publius,  "the  chief  man 
of  the  island,  who  received  us  and  lodged  us  three 
days  courteously,1'  according  to  Luke,  and  whose 
father  lay  ill  of  fever,  whom  Paul  healed. 


CHAPTER    VI 
GREECE    IN    SONG    AND     STORY 


The  Isles  of  Greece  !  the  Isles  of  Greece  ! 

Where  burning  Sappho  loved  and  sung, 
Where  grew  the  arts  of  war  and  peace, 

Where  Delos  rose,  and  Phoebus  sprung  ! 
Eternal  summer  gilds  them  yet, 
But  all,  except  their  sun,  is  set. 

The  mountains  look  on  Marathon, 

And  Marathon  looks  on  the  sea, 
And  musing  there  an  hour  alone, 

I  dreamed  that  Greece  might  still  be  free ; 
For,  standing  on  the  Persians'  grave, 
I  could  not  deem  myself  a  slave. 

—  Lord  Byron  in  "The  Isles  of  Greece." 

AS  one  sa'  from  Malta  for  Greece  he  finds  him- 
self on  ti.  „  second  day  in  the  ^gean  Sea,  passing 
here  and  there  a  Gr'  ^k  island,  and,  before  the  ship 
turns  into  the  harboi  at,  Piraeus,  the  seaport  of  Athens, 
he  sees  the  Straits  of  Salamis  and,  further  away,  the 
Eleusis,  where  nearly  twenty-four  centuries  ago,  in  480 
B.  C,  Persia  was  defeated.  It  is  with  keen  interest 
that  one  looks  for  the  Acropolis  in  Athens,  the  capital 
of  Greece,  and  mistakes  one  of  the  loftier  heights  for 
the  hilltop,  crowned  by  one  of  the  greatest  buildings 
in  history.  Hymettus,  Pentelicus,  Parnes,  iEgina 
and  Salamis  are  each  in  turn  picked  out  as  the  Acrop- 
olis, which  one  finds  later  is  partly  obscured  by  the 

67 


68        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

buildings  in   Piraeus  and  the  hundreds  of  masts  in  the 
harbor. 

Having  landed  in  one  of  the  small  boats  which 
crowd  around  the  vessel,  one  does  not  wish  to  hurry 
away  from  the  harbor  around  which  so  much  of  Gre- 
cian history  centers.  Salamis,  not  far  away,  shares 
with  Piraeus  in  the  traditions  attached  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Persian  fleet  of  Xerxes.  It  was  from  Piraeus 
that  the  splendid  Sicilian  expedition  started  "with  flags 
flying,  paeans  sounding,  and  libations  pouring."  And 
it  was  to  this  port  that  the  solitary  survivor  of  that  ill- 
fated  campaign  came  back  to  tell  the  sorry  tale  of 
annihilation.  While  the  large  ships  for  the  most  part 
anchor  outside  the  breakwater  at  Piraeus,  they  are 
sufficiently  near  for  the  traveler  to  see  the  Acropolis, 
a  small  hill  rising  two  or  three  hundred  feet  above 
the  city  of  Athens,  five  miles  distant.  Piraeus  is 
connected  with  Athens  by  an  electric  railway,  and 
also  by  a  steam  railway  running  through  Corinth  to 
Patras. 

The  carriage  ride  from  Piraeus  to  Athens  is  an  inter- 
esting one,  chiefly  because  the  Acropolis,  crowned  by 
the  Parthenon,  is  in  view  practically  all  of  the  dis- 
tance. The  newer  road  running  along  the  beach  of 
New  Phalerum  is  lined  with  pepper-trees.  Soon  the 
carriage  passes  under  the  shadow  of  the  Acropolis  and 
enters  the  busy  Place  de  la  Constitution  in  the  heart 
of  Athens.  Or  taking  the  electric  train  at  Piraeus,  a 
Vricf  ride  brines  the  traveler  to  the  Theseum  Station. 


h  5 


2    X 


70        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

and  in  a  few  minutes  he  is  revelling  in  ruins  antedat- 
ing the  Christian  era. 

The  city  of  Athens  is  built  in  a  valley  bare  and  un- 
attractive. The  rivers  Cephissus  and  Ilissus,  which 
made  the  plain  fertile  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece, 
have  left  their  story  in  the  rocky  courses,  mainly  dry, 
however.  During  the  centuries  the  city  has  moved 
from  the  south  and  west,  where  it  was  in  ante-Christian 
days,  to  the  north  where  the  present  town  lies.  Like 
every  city,  Athens  has  its  tenement  district,  its  busi- 
ness quarter  and  its  residential  section.  The  popula- 
tion is  mainly  Greek,  though  Turkish  blood  mingles 
with  that  which  marks  its  descent  from  Pericles  and 
his  contemporaries.  Greece,  in  common  with  other 
Mediterranean  countries,  has  contributed  largely  to 
the  growth  of  America,  but  in  the  return  of  many  of 
its  people,  after  a  few  years  of  absence,  it  has  profited 
by  their  experiences  and  economies  in  the  new  world. 

Athens  presents  a  clean  appearance  to  the  visitor. 
The  streets  are  not  littered;  the  houses  are  built  of 
stone  and  many  of  them  are  covered  with  vines,  while 
flowers  fill  the  gardens.  One  can  linger  in  Athens  for 
days,  strolling  through  the  modern  town,  but  the  mar- 
velous monuments  of  antiquity  naturally  form  the 
principal  attraction,  and  their  beauty  is  as  great  as 
their  extent  and  fame. 

The  Acropolis  is  the  center  of  interest,  for  assembled 
here  are  the  most  glorious  monuments  of  the  ancient 
city,   and    their  remains  still    stand    a  wonder  of  all 


THE   WONDER   OF  THE   AGES  71 

time.  Two  of  the  finest  and  best  preserved  monu- 
ments, of  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  Chris- 
tian era,  are  the  Temple  of  Theseus  and  Jupiter  Olym- 
pus. Other  buildings  of  importance  are  the  Parthenon, 
the  Temple  of  Victory,  the  Erechtheum,  the  Theater 
of  Bacchus  and  the  Porch  of  Hadrian,  while  Mars' 
Hill,  without  a  building  of  any  kind,  shares  with  the 
Christian  visitor  the  honor  shown  to  the  Acropolis 
with  all  its  famous  structures. 

Having  reached  the  base  of  the  Acropolis,  one  gains 
the  summit  by  passing  through  the  Propylaea,  perhaps 
the  most  important  secular  work  in  ancient  Athens. 
The  staircase  of  marble,  seventy  feet  in  width,  was 
built  by  Pericles  four  hundred  years  before  the  Chris- 
tian era.  Along  the  steps  were  arranged  statues  of 
wonderful  beauty  by  famous  sculptors.  Triumphal 
processions  ascended  this  stairway  to  present  offerings 
to  the  gods  and  to  offer  sacrifices  to  Athena. 

Passing  through  the  Propylaea,  once  the  great  en- 
trance hall  and  gateway  to  the  Acropolis,  one  sees  on 
the  right  a  small  building  with  four  graceful  Ionic 
columns  in  front,  known  as  the  Temple  of  the  Wing- 
less Victory,  erected  in  honor  of  Nike,  the  goddess  of 
victory.  The  citizens  placed  in  the  temple  a  statue  of 
the  goddess  with  a  palm  in  her  hand  and  holding  a 
wreath  of  laurel.  They  omitted  from  the  goddess  the 
customary  wings,  believing  that  without  wings  victory 
would  never  depart  from  Athens. 

At  the  left  of  the  Parthenon  stands  the  Erechtheum, 


72        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

named  after  the  Attic  hero,  Erechtheus,  which  once 
contained  the  seated  figure  of  the  Goddess  Athena. 
Six  large  statues  of  women  upholding  the  cornice  of 
the  porch  are  the  Caryatides,  possibly  the  attendants 
of  Athena  Polias — four  in  front  and  one  at  each 
side.  One  of  the  figures  is  a  terra-cotta  cast  of  the 
original,  which  is  now  in  the  British  Museum,  having 
been  carried  to  England  by  Lord  Elgin.  The  marble 
columns  on  the  other  side  of  the  Erechtheum  are  con- 
sidered by  many  the  best  examples  of  the  Ionic  style  of 
architecture. 

It  is  the  Parthenon  which  takes  travelers  to  Athens ; 
representations  of  the  Parthenon  in  pictures  and  prints 
and  sculptured  miniatures,  travelers  take  away  from 
Athens.     It  is  ever  true,  as  an  American  poet  has  said : 

"Earth  proudly  wears  the  Parthenon 
As  the  best  gem  upon  her  throne. ' ' 

Even  in  its  ruins  the  Parthenon  is  majestic.  Two 
architects,  Ictinus  and  Calycrites,  designed  this  beauti- 
ful structure.  The  date  of  its  beginning  is  thought  to 
have  been  about  454  B.  C,  and  it  was  dedicated  to 
Athena  in  4'38  B.  C.  The  harmony  of  its  proportions 
attracts  the  eye  of  builders  and  the  lovers  of  beauty. 
With  eight  columns  at  the  ends  and  seventeen  at  the 
sides,  its  symmetry  is  practically  perfect.  It  is  said 
thai  there  are  no  straight  lines  in  the  Parthenon,  even 
in  the  sub-structure,  and  that  one  of  the  charms  of  the 
building    lies    in  the  subtleness  of   the  curves-.      The 


THE   GLORY    OF  THE    PARTHENON     73 

steps  rise  in  a  gentle  billow  from  end  to  end,  the  col- 
umns bulge  infinitesimally  in  the  middle — everywhere 
the  eye  rests  on  the  exquisite  beauty  of  a  delicate 
curve.  The  crowning  charm  of  the  Parthenon  of  old 
was  the  sculpture  which  completed  and  decorated  it. 
This  was  put  in  the  gables  or  pediments  and  around 
the  outsides  at  intervals  on  the  frieze  or  space  above 
the  architrave.  Color  was  used  freely  for  details 
everywhere  and  traces  of  it  still  exist.  The  back- 
ground of  the  frieze  was  probably  dark  blue,  as  also 
were  the  panels  of  the  ceilings.  The  carved  marble 
frieze  which,  over  five  hundred  feet  in  length,  extended 
around  the  building  was  the  work  of  Phidias  and  has 
no  rival. 

The  crowning  glory  of  the  Parthenon,  as  it  stood 
more  than  twenty-three  centuries  ago,  was  the  colossal 
statue  of  Athena  Parthenos,  Athena  the  Virgin,  forty 
feet  in  height,  made  under  the  direction  of  Phidias. 
The  Caryatides  were  eight  feet  in  height,  while  the 
statue  of  Athena  was  equal  to  five  of  these  gigantic 
women  placed  one  above  the  other.  Pausanias,  the 
Greek  historian,  thus  describes  the  statue:  '"The 
image  itself  is  made  of  ivory  and  gold.  Its  helmet 
was  surmounted  in  the  middle  by  the  figure  of  a  sphinx 
and  on  either  side  of  the  helmet  are  griffins,  wrought  in 
relief.  The  image  of  Athena  stands  upright,  clad  in 
a  garment  which  reaches  to  her  feet ;  on  her  breast  is 
the  head  of  Medusa,  wrought  in  ivory.  She  holds  a 
Victory  about  four  cubits  high  in  one  hand  and  in  the 


74        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

other  hand  a  sphere,  and  at  her  feet  lies  a  shield  and 
near  the  sphere  a  serpent."  The  Victory  to  which 
reference  is  made  is  an  image  of  the  goddess  of  vic- 
tory. The  Parthenon  contains  also  a  treasury  in 
which  were  deposited  the  spoils  which  the  Athenians 
captured  from  their  enemies.  The  Romans,  under 
Nero,  in  turn  took  rare  paintings,  valuable  ornaments 
and  costly  bronzes  from  the  Parthenon,  while  Goths, 
Normans,  Franks,  Venetians  and  Vandals  plundered 
the  city,  stripping  the  decorations  of  gold  and  silver 
from  columns  and  walls.  The  Turks  literally  took 
shiploads  of  marble  and  bronzes  to  Constantinople, 
while  England  enriched  the  British  Museum  with 
many  choice  marbles  from  the  Acropolis  in  order  to 
preserve  them,  Lord  Elgin  said.  Built  as  a  temple  of 
idolatry,  the  Parthenon  became,  under  the  Romans, 
a  Catholic  cathedral,  under  the  Greeks  a  Christian 
church,  and  under  the  Sultan  a  Mohammedan  mosque. 
Almost  directly  in  front  of  the  Acropolis  stands  a 
rock  elevation  of  greater  interest  to  the  Christian 
traveler  than  all  the  storied  buildings  of  Classic 
Greece,  for  on  the  Areopagus,  or  Mars1  Hill,  the  great 
Apostle  Paul  gave  an  address,  teaching  the  fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man.  which  has  no 
peer  in  literature.  In  Corinth,  later,  as  he  himself 
says,  he  determined  to  know  nothing  among  the  Co- 
rinthians except  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified;  in 
Athens  also  he  preached  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
though  some  mocked  and  others  delayed;   lor  nineteen 


THE   FATHERHOOD    OF   GOD  75 

centuries  his  sermon  on  Mars'  Hill  has  been  the 
inspiration  of  the  Church  and  his  example  has  been 
followed  by  countless  preachers,  who  have  tried,  like 
Paul,  to  win  men  to  Christ,  rather  than  force  them  to 
accept  this  or  that  doctrine  of  men.  It  was  a  real 
inspiration  to  stand  with  a  few  friends  on  Mars1  Hill 
and  think  over  again  the  message  to  the  men  of 
Athens,  and  hear  the  messenger  from  Jerusalem  declare 
that  he  came  to  speak  to  them  of  the  unknown  God,  to 
whom,  not  knowing,  they  had  devoted  an  altar. 

From  Mars'  Hill  to  the  Stadium,  where  the  Olympic 
games  are  held,  is  a  short  drive,  and  many  monuments 
of  minor  interest  are  passed.  In  the  Stadium  one 
sees  where  the  Americans  won  many  medals  over  their 
competitors  from  other  countries. 

An  eventful  forenoon  in  Athens  was  ending  with  a 
carriage  drive  from  the  Acropolis  and  Mars'  Hill 
to  the  Burial  Ground  when  a  friend  remarked : 

"That  is  the  Royal  Palace,  but  apparently  no  one 
is  received  there,  for  the  parties  did  not  stop  yesterday 
when  you  were  in  Corinth."  By  this  time  the  palace, 
an  imposing  structure  of  Pentelic  marble,  with  an 
Ionic  colonnade,  was  reached. 

"Yesterday  is  gone;  let  us  see  what  to-day  will 
bring  forth." 

The  sentry  saluted  the  Americans  and  the  door- 
keeper bade  them  welcome.  The  members  of  the 
party  were  shown  through  the  public  rooms  and  then 
taken  up  the  broad  stairway  to  the  second  floor,  pass- 


76        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

ing  on  the  way  a  beautiful  painting  of  "Prometheus 
Bound"  above  the  landing,  and  at  the  top  of  the  stair- 
way a  statue  of  Penelope  with  her  ball  of  yarn  and  her 
distaff,  both  of  which  were  pointed  out  with  no  little 
pride. 

•"Would    it   be   possible   to   see   His   Majesty  for  a 
moment ?"  asked  the  writer.      The  face  of  the  faithful 
attendant  flushed  as  he  replied : 
"No!  no  !      That  is  impossible. 

"Perhaps  you  would  carry  a  letter  to  His  Majesty's 
aide. 7 '  After  some  hesitation,  but  with  the  air  of  one 
who  apparently  thought  that  no  harm  could  be  done, 
since  he  had  given  no  promise  of  an  audience  with  the 
King,  he  directed  the  party  to  accompany  him  to  the 
public  reception-room.  There  the  request  was  re- 
peated in  Greek,  and  the  military  aide  read  the  letter. 
A  cordial  smile  augured  well  for  the  errand  in  ques- 
tion, but  many  diplomatic  objections  suggested  them- 
selves when  the  official  learned  that  the  audience  must 
take  place  if  at  all  within  the  next  hour.  His  Maj- 
esty was  in  conference  with  the  Minister  of  War  at  the 
time  and  could  not  be  disturbed.  At  what  hotel 
were  the  visitors  stopping,  that  an  answer  might  be 
sent  to  them?  Leaving  Greece  in  two  hours,  and  the 
King  was  so  busy  ! 

After  some  delay  the  interview  was  arranged. 
••Come  this  way,  please." 

It  was  the  military  aide  who  was  speaking.      The 
Americans  started  toward  the  door. 


WITH   THE    KING   OF   GREECE  77 

"No,  only  one — you.  You  only,  and  you  can 
have  one  minute  only  with  His  Majesty."1 

One  minute  for  an  interview  with  the  King  of 
Greece !  It  would  take  far  more  than  that  time  to  be 
presented  formally  and  to  retire  gracefully.  One  min- 
ute !  It  would  take  more  time  than  that  to  don  and 
doff  the  robe  of  presentation.  What  could  be  said  in 
a  minute?  What  topics  would  it  be  safe  to  discuss? 
What  subjects  ought  to  be  avoided?  Suppose  a  break 
were  made,  what  would  be  the  penalty? — and  no  one 
of  his  nationality,  except  the  friends  in  the  reception- 
room,  knowing  where  he  was,  so  suddenly  and  so  un- 
premeditatingly  had  the  suggestion  for  an  interview 
been  made.  These  and  a  dozen  other  questions  served 
to  occupy  the  time  between  the  public  hall  and  the 
King's  apartments,  less  than  a  dozen  steps  away. 

Alas  for  human  worries !  There  was  no  robe  of 
presentation.  There  was  no  formal  presentation — in 
fact,  there  was  no  presentation  of  any  kind.  The 
King  came  to  the  door  of  his  room  and  extended  his 
hand  to  greet  the  visitor  as  if  he  had  been  a  business 
man  rising  from  his  desk  to  greet  an  old-time  friend. 

• '  I  have  a  letter' ' — the  sentence  was  never  ended. 

* '  I  have  read  your  letter,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  wel- 
come you  to  the  palace  and  to  Athens. ' ' 

'"May  I  present  the  other  members  of  the  party?" 

'Tf  you  wish.'"  The  dozen  steps  were  retraced 
quickly,  for  there  was  no  Hermes  to  send.  The  ruler 
of  Greece  and  an  unknown  American  were  alone-     No 


78        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

perplexing  questions  disturbed  the  thoughts  through 
the  passage.  When  the  second  presentation  was  made 
even  more  cordiality  was  shown  than  at  first,  a  hearty 
greeting  and  a  royal  welcome  both  being  accorded. 
Not  much  time  was  allowed  for  the  visitors  to  ask  ques- 
tions.     The  King  was  the  interviewer: 

"When  did  you  reach  Greece?" 

"How  long  are  you  to  stay?1' 

"How  do  you  like  this  country?" 

"According  to  press  dispatches  our  climate  differs 
from  that  of  America;  do  you  find  it  so?  You  have 
blizzards  and  storms  of  various  kinds ;  we  have  none 
in  Athens.11 

"You  have  seen  the  Acropolis?11 

"How  do  you  like  the  Stadium?11 

In  the  conversation  about  the  relation  of  Greece  and 
America  and  the  good-will  which  exists  between  the 
two  countries,  the  King  spoke  enthusiastically  of  the 
administration  of  President  Taft. 

From  politics  in  America,  upon  which  the  King 
was  well  informed,  to  politics  in  Europe  the  conver- 
sation drifted,  and  finally  the  serious  situation  between 
Turkey  and  Greece  over  the  Cretan  delegates  was 
broached. 

"You  may  rest  assured  that  there  will  be  no  war 
between  Greece  and  Turkey.11 

With  that  momentous  question  settled  by  one  of  the 
two  monarchs  most  directly  interested,  the  conversation 
drifted    to    lighter    affairs.      The    beautiful    portraits 


ON  THE   SIDE   OF   PEACE  79 

over  the  King's  table  were  admired  and  His  Majesty 
was  asked  whom  they  represented. 

"The  central  one,"  he  said  with  a  smile,  "is  that  of 
my  wife,  the  Queen  of  Greece,  taken,  however,  some 
years  ago.  The  pictures  on  the  right  and  left  below 
the  Queen  are  those  of  my  father  and  mother,  the 
former  taken  when  my  father  was  well  advanced  in 
years. "  Speaking  of  his  wife  and  mother,  the  King 
turned  to  one  of  the  members  of  the  party  and  made  a 
remark  wholly  unexpected  from  so  august  a  person: 
"What  a  pretty  hat  you  have.'1  The  color  of  the 
bright  velvet  and  the  blushing  cheeks  of  the  lady 
blended  perfectly,  but  no  response  was  forthcoming. 
What  answer  could  one  make  to  such  a  remark  from 
the  King?  It  is  safe  to  conclude,  however,  that  that 
particular  piece  of  velvet  will  be  carefully  preserved 
and  handed  down  as  an  heirloom. 

After  a  few  questions  about  the  visit  of  the  Ameri- 
cans to  Athens  and  their  further  journey  through  the 
Orient,  the  work  of  the  American  School  in  Athens, 
with  its  excavations  in  Corinth  and  Athens,  was  dis- 
cussed with  extreme  cordiality  on  the  part  of  the 
King.  He  was  enthusiastic  over  the  work  of  Dr.  Hill, 
the  director  in  charge  of  the  excavations. 

It  is  no  longer  a  surprise  that  the  King  of  Greece 
holds  the  love  of  his  people  in  his  great  heart,  and 
though  far  more  conservative  than  many  of  the  leaders 
of  his  people,  they  will  restrain  their  bitter  enmity, 
even  against  their  strongest  foe,  or  follow  the  stand- 


80        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

ards  of  their  beloved  King  against  Turkey  at  the  first 
call  to  arms.  Happy  is  it  for  Europe  and  for  the 
world  in  general,  as  well  as  for  Greece  and  Turkey  in 
particular,  that  the  monarch  of  this  impulsive  nation 
carries  himself  and  leads  his  people  with  such  modera- 
tion and  even  restraint. 

It  being  impossible  to  visit  all  the  cities  of  Greece, 
Corinth  was  chosen. 

Queen  of  the  double  sea.  beloved  of  him 

Who  shakes  the  world's  foundations,  thou  hast  seen 

Glory  in  all  her  beauty,  all  her  forms ; 

Seen  her  walk  back  with  Theseus  when  he  left 

The  bones  of  Sciron  bleaching  to  the  wind. 

Above  the  ocean's  roar  and  cormorant's  flight, 

So  high  that  vastest  billows  from  above 

Show  but  like  herbage  waving  in  the  mead ; 

Seen  generations  throng  thy  Isthmian  games, 

And  pass  away ;  the  beautiful,  the  brave, 

And  them  who  sang  their  praises — 

To  give  the  inertest  masses  of  our  earth 
Her  loveliest  forms,  was  thine ;   to  fix  the  gods 
Within  thy  walls,  and  hang  their  tripods  round 
With  fruits  and  foliage  knowing  not  decay. 

— Walter  Savage  Landor,  in  "To  Corinth." 

The  ride  of  sixty  miles  from  Athens  to  Corinth 
takes  one  through  the  town  of  Megara.  which  has 
become  world-renowned  for  its  excellence  in  rhythmic 
motion.  While  all  over  Greece  at  Easter-time  the 
people  indulge  themselves  in  dancing  the  Choral  dance 
— men  by  themselves  and   women   by  themselves — the 


A    DAY    IN    CORINTH 


81 


women  at  Megara  excel.  The  people  look  forward  to 
this  festival  as  the  peasants  of  Oberammergau  look 
forward  to  the  Passion  Play.  At  Megara  one  can  see 
in  the  east  the  island  of  Salamis,  while  behind  and 
above  it  is  Hymettus.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
both   Athens  and  Megara  desired  to  secure  possession 


ACRO-CORINTH 


of  Salamis ;  Megara  secured  it,  but  when  Solon  by  his 
warlike  elegies  aroused  the  martial  spirit  of  Athens, 
Salamis  in  the  sixth  century  became  a  part  of  Athens. 
The  train  stops  not  at  the  Corinth  of  Paul's  time 
but  at  a  new  city  of  that  name,  where  a  few  thousand 
people  live  on  the  Gulf  of  Corinth.  The  old  city  in 
ruins  is  three  or  four  miles  from  the  station,  and  there 
one  sees  the  notable  work  of  the  American  School  of 
Classical   Studies   at   Athens.      In    "Greece    Through 


82        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

the  Stereoscope"  Dr.  Rufus  G.  Richardson,  for  ten 
years  director  of  that  School,  tells  of  his  breaking 
ground  at  Corinth  in  1896  when  there  was  practically 
no  monument  of  the  ancient  city  above  the  ground 
except  the  venerable  Temple  ruins  pretty  well  in  the 
background  and  standing  on  a  hill.  Following  the 
description  of  the  principal  buildings  left  by  Pausa- 
nias,  he  tells  how  they  tried  to  find  a  starting-point. 
The  Temple  ruin,  the  only  conspicuous  landmark  of 
the  ancient  city,  stood  like  a  sphinx  defying  the  for- 
eigners to  read  its  riddle. 

"By  patience,  perseverance  and  hope  we  reached 
it, ' '  continued  Dr.  Richardson.  ' '  We  dug  over  twenty 
trenches,  some  of  them  several  hundred  feet  long,  of 
different  depths  and  in  different  directions,  but  all  of 
them  starting  with  the  breadth  of  fifteen  feet.  They 
were  uniformly  carried  down  to  hardpan.  We  worked 
with  a  hundred  or  more  laborers  and  kept  on  the  whole 
near  to  the  Temple,  which  was  evidently  important.  It 
was  •retting  near  the  end  of  our  three  months'  cam- 
paign,  about  the  first  of  June,  when  we  discovered,  well 
buried,  under  nearly  twenty  feet  of  earth,  an  old  Greek 
theater,  on  the  ruins  of  which  had  been  built  a  Roman 
one.  It  was  one  of  the  most  exciting  moments  of  my 
life  when  I  saw  at  Hie  bottom  of  a  trench,  eighteen  feet 
deep,  the  much-worn  stone  block  of  a  flight  of  steps. 
There  was  no  more  doubt  that  we  had  the  Temple  of 
Apollo.  I  should  have  been  well  contented  with  our 
first  campaign  if  we  had  simply  found  the  theater;  but 


TESTIMONY    OF   PAUL 


85 


we  had  done  ever  so  much  more.    We  had  hit  the  bull's- 
eye  and  settled  the  whole  topography  of  Corinth.1' 

In  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Acts  Luke  says  that 
Paul  reasoned  every  Sabbath  at  Corinth  while  he  was 
in  the  city  and  persuaded  the  Jews  and  Greeks,  and 


REMAINS    OF    A    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH    AT    CORINTH 


when  Silas  and  Timothy  came  from  Macedonia  "Paul 
was  pressed  in  the  spirit,  and  testified  to  the  Jews  that 
Jesus  was  Christ.  And  when  they  opposed  themselves 
and  blasphemed,  he  shook  his  raiment  and  said  unto 
them.  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own  heads ;  I  am 
clean;  from  henceforth  I  will  go  unto  the  Gentiles.1' 
In  the  Museum  a  tablet  is  shown  which  bears  an  in- 
scription indicating  that  it  was  from  a  Hebrew  syna- 
gogue, possibly  the  one  in  which   Paul  had  preached. 


84        THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Paul  had  a  hard  time  in  Corinth,  but  here,  as  else- 
where, he  was  sustained  by  a  vision  of  the  Lord  that 
no  harm  could  come  to  him.  What  comforting  words 
these  must  have  been  :  '  *  Be  not  afraid,  but  speak  and 
hold  not  thy  peace,  for  I  am  with  thee  and  no  man 
shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee,  for  I  have  much  people 
in  this  city.1' 

As  the  traveler  drives  from  Aero-Corinth  back  to 
the  new  city  to  take  the  train  for  Athens,  he  is  grate- 
ful for  the  splendid  service  which  the  great  Apostle 
rendered  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  grateful  too  that 
he  may  have  a  share  in  extending  His  Church,  and 
that  he  may  experience  the  same  assurance  that  came 
to  Paul  if  he  also  is  true  to  Him.  He  feels  that  he 
has  been  very  close  to  one  who  was  very  near  and  dear 
to  the  Master,  and  he  hears  anew  the  exhortation  of 
Paul,  ''Follow  me  as  I  follow  Christ.1' 


CHAPTER    VII 
CONSTANTINOPLE    OLD    AND     NEW 


Know  ye  the  land  where  the  cypress  and  myrtle 
Are  emblems  of  deeds  that  are  done  in  their  clime, 
Where  the  rage  of  the  vulture,  the  love  of  the  turtle, 
Now  melt  into  sorrow,  now  madden  to  crime  ? 
Know  ye  the  land  of  the  cedar  and  vine, 
Where  the  flowers  ever  blossom,  the  beams  ever  shine  : 
Where  the  light  wings  of  zephyr,  oppressed  with  perfume, 
Wax  faint  o'er  the  gardens  of  Gul  in  her  bloom  : 
Where  the  citron  and  olive  are  fairest  of  fruit, 
And  the  voice  of  the  nightingale  never  is  mute  : 
Where  the  tints  of  the  earth  and  the  hues  of  the  sky, 
In  color  though  varied,  in  beauty  may  vie, 
And  the  purple  of  ocean  is  deepest  in  dye  ; 
Where  the  virgins  are  soft  as  the  roses  they  twine, 
And  all,  save  the  spirit  of  man,  is  divine? 
'Tis  the  clime  of  the  East ;  'tis  the  land  of  the  Sun- 
Can  He  smile  on  such  deeds  as  His  children  have  done? 
Oh  !  wild  as  the  accents  of  lovers'  farewell 
Are  the  hearts  which  they  bear  and  the  tales  which  they  tell. 

—  Lord  Byron. 

CONSTANTINOPLE,  which  lies  in  the  same  lati- 
tude as  New  York,  Rome  and  Peking,  sits  "at  the 
meeting  of  two  seas  and  two  continents  like  a  diamond 
between  sapphires  and  emeralds. ' '  There  are  three  sec- 
tions to  the  city,  Galata  and  Pera  north  of  the  Golden 
Horn,  which  is  mainly  European ;  Stamboul,  the  old 
city,  which  is  chiefly  Turkish;  and  Scutari,  on  the 
Asiatic  side,  which  is  also  Turkish.  The  population 
is  about  a  million  and  a  half — half  Turks,  a  quarter 

85 


86        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Greeks,  and  the  rest  Armenians,  Jews  and  other  Eastern 
peoples.  The  city  may  be  reached  by  express  trains 
from  Paris,  and  by  ships  from  the  Black  Sea  or  the 
Mediterranean. 

Approaching  the  capital  from  the  south  through  the 
Dardanelles,  the  ancient  Hellespont,  the  traveler  learns 
that  there  the  unhappy  Helle  died,  giving  this  stream 
its  ancient  name.  There  also  is  where  Hero's  Tower 
stood  when  Leander  swam  across  the  mile  of  swiftly 
flowing  current  to  meet  his  beloved  Hero,  the  Priestess 
of  Venus.  Such  a  thing  would  be  impossible  now,  for 
Turkey's  sentries  would  check  the  ardor  of  the  lovesick 
swain.  In  view  of  the  care  which  is  taken  of  ladies 
traveling  without  escort,  the  suggestion  occurs  that 
Hero  ought  to  have  had  a  chaperon,  as  the  unattached 
ladies  of  modern  cruises  have. 

As  one  goes  up  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  looks  ahead 
at  the  city  commanding  one  of  the  finest  sites  in  the 
world,  he  thinks  of  the  lines : 

"the  dark  blue  water 
That  swiftly  glides  and  gently  swells 
Between  the  winding  Dardanelles." 

The  sail  is  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  the  people  on 
board,  who,  with  note-books  and  cameras  and  In- 
personal  interviews,  secure  impressions  which  will  long 
remain  among  the  special  memories  of  the  trip.  Con- 
stantinople is  reached  as  the  sun  is  sinking  over  the 
European    part    of    the   city.       Friends    from    Robert 


WHAT  ONE  MAY  SEE  IN  THE  CITY    87 

College  and  the  American  School  for  Girls,  on  op- 
posite sides  of  the  Bosphorus — the  term  being  equiv- 
alent to  Oxford  —  entertain  visitors  with  stories  of 
the  wonderful  work  accomplished  by  these  two  insti- 


CONSTANTINOPLE    AND    THE    BOSPHORUS 


tutions,  and  regale  them  with  facts  about  the  early  his- 
tory of  this  interesting  city. 

The  principal  sights  of  Constantinople  are  the  ba- 
zaars, mosques,  tombs,  the  Seraglio,  the  offices  of  the 
Sublime  Porte,  the  Museum  of  the  Janissaries  and  the 
Cemetery  of  Scutari.  The  most  important  Mosques 
are  those  of  St.  Sophia.  Suliman,  Ahmed  Mohammed 
II.  and  Eyoub.  The  famous  bazaars  are  most  char- 
acteristic of  Oriental  life.     The  numberless  little  shops 


88        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

form  a  great  arch-covered  labyrinth  of  streets,  pas- 
sages and  crossways,  and  display  a  curious  and  interest- 
ing collection  of  merchandise,  gold  and  silversmith's 
work,  jewels  and  precious  stones,  arms  and  armor, 
fabrics  of  every  kind,  embroideries,  spices — every 
article  of  Oriental  and  Occidental  production  that  it  is 
possible  to  think  of.  Another  great  attraction  is  the 
famous  Imperial  Ottoman  Museum,  one  of  the  most 
valuable  museums  in  the  world. 

Constantinople  was  started  on  the  present  site  of 
Scutari,  seven  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  by 
Dorian  Greeks,  and  was  known  for  a  thousand  years 
as  Chalcedon.  Not  long  after  its  foundation,  other 
Greeks  from  Megara,  in  687  B.  C,  founded  Byzantium 
on  the  triangle  which  the  Golden  Horn  forms  with  the 
junction  of  the  Bosphorus,  and  Byzantium  it  remained 
until  Constantine  built  a  town  which  he  called  New 
Rome.  At  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  B.  C.  Byzan- 
tium became  subject  to  Persia  and  was  burned  in  the 
revolt  which  took  place  in  the  following  century.  After 
the  battle  of  Platsea,  in  479  B.  C,  Pausanias  recovered 
the  city  for  Greece.  A  little  more  than  a  century  later 
the  Athenians,  persuaded  by  the  eloquence  of  Demos- 
thenes, sent  help  to  Byzantium  which  aided  the  city  in 
repelling  its  besieger.  Philip  of  Macedon. 

Constantinople,  as  the  city  was  soon  called  in  honor 
of  the  new  founder,  was  dedicated  May  11.  !>'$()  A.D.. 
as  the  capital  of  a  Christian  empire.  When  Con- 
stantine chose  Byzantium  for  his  new  capital   he  taxed 


RICHES  THRUST   UPON   ONE  89 

the  world  to  build  up  and  adorn  the  city,  and  Rome 
herself  gave  her  treasures  to  those  of  other  cities  for 
this  purpose.  The  city  built  on  European  soil  and 
looking  over  into  Asia  has  been  an  object  of  strife  for 
fifteen  centuries.  Greeks,  Persians,  Huns,  Goths,  Arabs, 
Turks,  Franks,  Crusaders  and  Bulgarians  have  in  turn 
sought  this  prize.  The  successive  emperors,  each  in  turn, 
had  to  defend  his  capital  as  well  as  govern  the  empire. 

Until  its  capture  by  the  Moslems  in  1453  it  was  the 
treasure  house  of  Greek  learning.  It  had  suffered  much 
from  the  pillage  of  the  Latins  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
but  so  much  wealth  was  divided  at  the  Ottomans1  con- 
quest two  centuries  later  that  a  proverb  was  coined ; 
when  a  Turk  became  rich  suddenly  it  would  be  said  of 
him :   "He  has  been  at  the  sack  of  Constantinople.1  "■ 

Stamboul,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  strait,  is  occupied 
principally  by  Turks,  Greeks,  Armenians  and  Jews. 
In  this  quarter  of  the  city  also  are  the  most  celebrated 
mosques  and  the  great  bazaars,  to  both  of  which  tourists 
go  to  see  and  to  learn.  Most  of  the  mosques  have  four 
minarets,  but  the  Mosque  of  Ahmed  has  six,  the  story 
beinff  that  the  sultan  who  erected  it  built  five  minarets, 
but  learning  that  the  mosque  at  Mecca  had  five  and 
that  no  other  could  have  that  number,  he  cut  the  knot 
by  adding  a  sixth  minaret,  which  at  least  made  it  dif- 
ferent from  the  sacred  mosque  at  Mecca.  A  yellow 
building  on  the  Scutari  side  of  the  Bosphorus  is  pointed 
out  as  the  Military  Hospital  where  Florence  Nightin- 
gale nursed  the  soldiers  during  the  Crimean  War. 


90        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

An  inlet  of  the  Bosphorus  at  the  left  is  called  the 
Golden  Horn,  possibly  on  account  of  its  shape,  though 
some  think  that  here  the  treasures  of  the  city  were  taken 
across  to  Stamboul.  Over  this  inlet,  about  a  third  of 
a  mile  in  width,  are  two  bridges  across  which  streams 
of  people  pass.  Galata  contains  the  business  section 
of  the  city,  while  in  Pera,  on  the  heights  above  Galata, 
are  the  hotels,  modern  stores  and  the  several  embassies 
and  consulates.  The  British  Embassy  covers  more 
space  than  that  owned  by  the  United  States,  having  a 
chapel  in  its  enclosure,  but  the  house  of  the  American 
Ambassador  has  a  superior  location  and  is  beautifully 
furnished.  The  Germans  also  have  a  fine  site  for  their 
Ambassador,  but  the  other  countries  are  not  so  well 
represented. 

Our  first  visit  in  Constantinople  was  not  to  the  ba- 
zaars or  the  mosques,  nor  yet  to  the  American  Embassy, 
for  we  wished  first  to  see  that  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
which  counted  for  most  not  only  in  that  empire  but 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  Therefore  we  inquired 
our  way  to  the  Bible  House  and  the  offices  of  the  Bible 
Society  and  the  American  Board,  where  Dr.  Bowen 
and  Dr.  Barnum  and  Dr.  Peet  told  us  of  the  progress 
which  was  being  made  throughout  the  empire  by  the 
work  of  the  Bible  colporters  and  the  missionaries  of 
these  two  great  societies.  All  of  these  men,  as  well  as 
others,  were  extremely  hopeful,  and  with  reason  appar- 
ently, that  greater  successes  awaited  the  heralds  of  the 
Cross   in  view  of  the   new  order  resulting   from   the 


BIBLE    HOUSE    PEOPLE    HOPEFUL       91 

change  of  Sultans.  Little  was  said  by  them  concerning 
the  secular  benefits,  but  they  talked  freely  of  the  great 
improvement  in  matters  touching  religious  work,  both 
in  Constantinople  and  throughout  the  country. 


THE    BIBLE    HOUSE,     CONSTANTINOPLE 

From  the  Bible  House,  with  its  delightful  glimpse 
of  American  life  and  its  cheerful  outlook,  we  drove  to 
the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia,  built  by  Justinian,  the  Em- 
peror, in  the  sixth  century,  when,  as  Emperor  of  the 
Eastern  Roman  Empire,  he  decided  to  erect  in  Con- 
stantinople a  church  that  should  surpass  any  Christian 
structure  then  existing  or  any  one  that  might  thereafter 
be  erected.      The  church  was  dedicated  in   December, 


92        THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

537  A.  D.,  less  than  six  years  after  the  foundations 
were  laid.  At  its  completion  Justinian  exclaimed:  "I 
have  surpassed  thee,  O  Solomon  !  * ' 

Over  the  central  door,  called  the  Royal  Gate,  is  a 
long  brass  plate  on  which  are  engraved  a  dove  and  a 
throne,  supporting  an  open  book,  on  the  open  pages  of 
which  may  be  read  these  words : 

' '  The  Lord  said  :  I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep ;  by  me 
if  any  man  enter  in  he  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in 
and  go  out  and  find  pasture." 

The  weight  of  the  dome  and  the  semi-domes  of  the 
mosque  rest  on  eight  great  piers.  On  either  side  of 
the  nave,  which  is  practically  a  double  square,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  east  and  west  and  one  hundred 
and  ten  north  and  south,  are  four  verde  antique  mon- 
oliths, quarried  in  Thessaly  and  presented  to  the  Em- 
peror Justinian  by  the  Prefect  Constantine  of  Ephesus. 
In  each  of  the  four  corners  are  two  porphyry  columns, 
eight  in  all,  quarried  in  Egypt,  which  once  formed 
part  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Baalbek  or  Palmyra. 
They  were  carried  to  Rome  by  Aurelian  to  adorn  a 
temple  there,  and  having  come  into  the  possession  of  a 
patrician  lady,  Marcia,  they  were  presented  by  her  to 
Justinian  for  the  salvation  of  her  soul.  The  vaulted 
roofs  of  the  aisles  are  supported  independently  of  the 
nave  columns  by  twenty-four  smaller  columns  of  green 
marble.      The  floor  of  the  church  is  of  marble. 

While  there  are  in  and  about  Constantinople  at  least 
one  hundred  mosques,  all  are  copies,  more  or  less  modi- 


THE    MOSQUE   OF   ST.    SOPHIA 


93 


fied,  of  St.  Sophia.  The  majority  of  the  people  are 
Mohammedans,  but  the  Greeks  have  their  Patriarch, 
the  Bulgarians  their  Exarch,  and  the  Armenians — 
Gregorian  and  Catholic — the  Jews  and  the  Protestants. 


MOSQUE    OF    ST.    SOPHIA,    CONSTANTINOPLE 


all  have  their  representatives ;  and  to  all  religious  free- 
dom is  now  freely  granted. 

Special  permission  may  be  secured  to  visit  the  Im- 
perial Treasury,  in  which  may  be  seen  a  throne  of 
beaten  gold  and  inlaid  work  adorned  with  thousands 
of  precious  stones  captured  in  1514  by  the  Sultan  Selim 
I.  from  Ismael,  the  Shah  of  Persia;  a  divan  of  Turkish 
work,  inlaid  and  encrusted  with  precious  wood  and 
stone,  over  which  hangs  the  great  emerald ;  the  chain 


94        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

armor  of  Sultan  Murad  IV.  worn  at  the  capture  of 
Bagdad  in  1638;  a  golden  tankard  studded  with  more 
than  two  thousand  flat  diamonds;  a  brass  bowl  inlaid 
with  silver  of  Arabic  work ;  Roman,  Byzantine,  Arabic 
and  Turkish  coins ;  precious  stones  and  ancient  arms ; 
a  collection  of  the  state  robes  of  the  Sultan ;  emeralds 
as  large  as  the  palm  of  one's  hand ;  garments  plated 
with  table  diamonds — but  why  enumerate?  A  ques- 
tion which  finds  expression  on  many  lips  is  this : 

"Why,  with  these  evidences  of  untold  wealth  in  its 
treasury,  should  Turkey  have  a  national  debt?" 

A  chapter  on  Constantinople  which  made  no  refer- 
ence to  the  dogs  of  the  city  would  seem  to  have  been 
written  on  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  and  not  on  the 
banks  of  the  Bosphorus.  An  American,  who  has  spent 
a  good  deal  of  time  in  Constantinople,  was  asked  how 
many  dogs  there  were  in  the  city.  Perhaps  he  spoke 
in  round  numbers,  but  his  answer  was:  "About  a  mil- 
lion.1 '  This  expression  he  modified  somewhat  by  say- 
ing that  in  a  city  whose  human  population  was  un- 
known one  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  say  how  many 
dogs  it  contained.  Probably  in  no  other  city  in  the 
world  have  there  been  such  hordes  of  ownerless  dogs, 
indolent  dogs  and  in  some  parts  of  the  city  troublesome 
dogs  as  in  Constantinople. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
UNDER     THE     NEW     CONSTITUTION 


Liberty,  like  day, 
Breaks  on  the  soul,  and  by  a  flash  from  Heaven 
Fires  all  the  faculties  with  glorious  joy. 

—William  Cowper. 

"T^TERE    the    missionaries    connected   with   the 
▼  ▼     recent  change  in  the  Government?11  a  mis- 
sionary in  Constantinople  was  asked. 

'"Some  enthusiastic  persons  have  expressed  their  be- 
lief that  the  great  change  in  Turkey  which  startled 
the  world  on  July  24,  1908,  was  largely  due  to  the 
work  and  influence  of  American  missionaries,11  was  the 
reply.  ''No  missionary,  however,  will  claim  so  much 
as  this  without  important  limitation  and  reservation. 
The  leaders  in  the  movement  which  culminated  that 
day,  Nyazi  Enver  and  his  companions,  were  never  in 
any  way  directly  under  missionary  influence.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  all  the  members  of  the  present 
Cabinet.  The  forces  that  pushed  them  forward  were 
European  civilization  and  education,  and  the  firm  and 
fierce  purpose  to  lift  their  country  out  of  the  quick- 
sands in  which  the  now  deposed  and  discredited  Gov- 
ernment was  sinking  her.1' 

"What  of  the  future?" 

95 


96       THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

"If  Americans  long  resident  in  Turkey  are  not  as 
optimistic  as  some  think  they  ought  to  be  regarding 
the  speedy  establishment  of  Constitutional  Government 
in  Turkey,  it  is  because  the  leaders  have  had  their 
training  in  southern  and  central  rather  than  in  northern 
Europe,  and  among  Latin  rather  than  Anglo-Saxon 
peoples.  There  is  danger  that  these  young  men  will 
tire  under  the  stress  and  strain  of  the  tremendous  task 
which  they  have  undertaken.  They  have  made  a  be- 
ginning, a  good  beginning.  They  cherish  noble  aims 
and  purposes  and  they  should  have  our  utmost  sym- 
pathy. The  Mohammedans  who  are  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  new  regime  greatly  outnumber  those  who  really 
desire  equality  and  fraternity  to  prevail.  The  Arabs 
on  one  side  and  the  Albanians  on  the  other  have  little 
love  for  Turks.  The  Christian  races  do  not  easily 
forget — who  could  expect  they  would? — the  centuries 
of  Ottoman  oppression  under  which  they  and  their 
fathers  have  groaned.  Who  can  be  surprised  if  they 
are  not  anxious  suddenly  to  become  Ottomans,  unless 
it  be  under  cover  of  a  desire,  and  perhaps  a  purpose 
by  and  by,  to  realize  national  ambitions  long  crushed 
down  under  the  heel  of  the  Ottomans?"" 

"Does  this  mean  that  the  missionaries  claim  no  credit 
for  the  improvement  of  affairs  in  Turkey?'1 

"Thank  God  evidence  is  not  lacking  that  efforts  put 
forth  by  American  missionaries  during  the  last  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  the 
youth  of  Turkey  the  principles  on  which  rests  the  better 


SEED    IN    FRUITFUL   SOIL 


97 


civilization  of  the  remoter  West,  the  effort  to  form  true, 
unselfish  Christian  characters,  has  not  been  in  vain. 
The  results  are  not  conspicuously  on  the  surface  of  the 
present  movements.  Leaven  is  not  found  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  meal.  We  believe,  at  least  we  hope,  that 
the  coming  years  will  show,  in  social,  in  educational, 


THE    IMPERIAL    PALACE,     CONSTANTINOPLE 

in  business,  in  political  movements  and  events  in  this 
country,  that  those  men  and  women  who  have,  at  the 
call  of  God,  as  they  believed,  consecrated  their  lives  to 
Christian  service  in  behalf  of  these  ancient  races  have 
scattered  seed  in  fruitful  soil,  the  'fruit  whereof  shall 
shake  like  Lebanon,1  and  that  they  have  helped  to  usher 
in  a  day  not  as  much  of  material  as  of  moral  and 
spiritual  progress  for  all  races.1' 

"Have  the  Young  Turks  a  goal  in  prospect,  or  are 
they  simply  drifting?1* 


98        THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

This  is  a  question  frequently  asked  by  visitors  to  the 
Turkish  Empire.  In  reply  to  such  an  inquiry  an 
American  resident  said  with  emphasis: 

"They  certainly  have  a  goal,  but  like  other  people 
with  new  and  pressing  problems  thrust  suddenly  upon 
them,  it  will  not  be  surprising  if  for  a  time  they  seem 
to  wander.  You  must  remember,  however,  that  many 
of  those  now  in  power  have  been  exiles  in  Europe,  some 
of  them  in  Paris,  and  that  they  are  accustomed  to  the 
best  forms  of  government  in  Europe ;  they  are  by  no 
means  novices  in  government.  Naturally  they  make 
mistakes,  but  in  the  opinion  of  many  a  similar  charge 
could  be  brought  against  the  governing  bodies  of  other 
nations,  America  always  excepted.  Taken  as  a  whole, 
the  outlook  for  the  city,  for  the  nation,  and  for  Chris- 
tianity is  most  encouraging." 

"When  a  man  can  leave  home  in  the  morning  with 
the  probability  that  he  will  return  at  night.'1  said  an 
American  official,  not  now  living  in  Turkey,  "long 
strides  have  been  taken  toward  better  conditions  in  the 
empire.  Under  the  former  regime  it  was  impossible 
for  one  to  know  that  he  would  ever  return.  There  was 
a  constant  dread  of  impending  danger  that  stifled  hope 
and  prevented  men  from  doing  their  best  for  their 
families  or  their  Government.11 

The  New  Constitution ;  the  deposition  of  the  old 
Sultan;  the  opening  of  Parliament,  in  which  Moslems, 
Jews  and  Christians  fraternize — all  of  this  and  more 
taking  place  in  Constantinople  means  much  to  every 


LIBERTY    FOR   MAN    AND    BEAST       99 

part  of  the  empire,  much  more,  in  fact,  than  the  people 
of  some  of  the  remote  sections  realize.  Many  of  the 
Turks  outside  of  the  capital  have  exhibited  a  frame  of 
mind  concerning  the  newly  given  liberty  indicated  by 
the  actions  of  a  donkey  boy  in  Beirut.  His  animal 
stood  across  the  narrow  sidewalk  as  a  lady  and  gentle- 
man approached.  The  street  being  muddy  the  gentle- 
man said : 

"Will  you  lead  your  donkey  into  the  street  so  that 
the  lady  can  pass?" 

"Let  the  lady  walk  in  the  street.  Donkey  has  lib- 
erty as  well  as  the  lady ;  donkey  has  a  right  now  to 
stand  on  the  sidewalk.1'  And  out  into  the  mud  in  the 
street  the  lady  went. 

"  Pay  the  toll  ?"  said  a  woman  crossing  a  bridge. 
"Why  should  I   pay  the  toll  if  we  have  liberty  now?" 

"Is  this  what  you  call  liberty?"  said  an  Albanian 
when  the  Young  Turks  condemned  him  to  death  for 
killing  a  Christian. 

A  small  boy  threw  a  stone  at  a  foreigner  driving  a 
motor  car.  The  foreigner  rebuked  him  and  received 
this  reply : 

"It  is  liberty  now." 

The  foreigner  gave  him  a  box  on  the  ear. 

"All  right,"  said  the  impartial  youngster;  "you 
also  have  liberty. 1 ' 

A  Bible  colporter  in  the  interior  was  asked  by  an 
official  if  he  had  a  permit  to  sell  Bibles  in  that  prov- 
ince.     Formerly  such  an  inquiry   would  have   caused 


100      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

great  consternation,  and  if  it  could  not  be  answered 
satisfactorily  it  would  have  meant  the  imprisonment 
and  punishment  of  the  colporter.  Not  so  now.  The 
colporter  smiled  and  said  pleasantly: 

' '  Apparently  you  have  not  heard  of  the  New  Con- 
stitution.'1  This  ended  the  inquiry  and  no  arrest 
followed. 

Many  stories  are  told,  now  that  there  is  no  danger 
of  the  prison  awaiting  those  who  tell  them,  that  sur- 
prise the  travelers  in  Turkey.  It  is  difficult  to  realize 
that  in  the  twentieth  century  fundamental  principles  of 
truth  and  justice  were  utterly  lacking.  Dr.  Henry  O. 
Dwight,  now  in  the  office  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
in  New  York,  was  for  many  years  in  the  Bible  House 
in  Constantinople.  In  his  timely  and  interesting  vol- 
ume, "Constantinople  and  Its  Problems,1 '  Dr.  Dwight 
gives  many  illustrations  from  his  experiences  which  are 
better  understood  in  Constantinople  than  they  would 
be  in  America.      One  must  suffice: 

"Ahmed  Bey  was  a  handsome  young  Mohammedan 
from  a  city  in  Bulgaria,  and  an  officer  in  the  Turkish. 
Navy.  He  came  to  me  in  great  distress.  A  certain 
Turkish  Admiral,  of  some  importance  as  far  as  influence 
goes,  had  a  daughter  of  comparative  youth  only,  and 
afflicted  like  Leah  with  some  trouble  of  the  eyes  which 
made  her  helpless  much  of  the  time,  with  injury  to  her 
prospects  of  matrimony-  The  Admiral  had  unhap- 
pily seen  the  young  officer  and  wished  to  marry  him  to 
his    daughter.      When    the    officer   declined    the    offer 


THE   OLD   SULTAN  101 

with  thanks,  the  Admiral,  Laban-like,  said  that  marry 
her  he  must;  otherwise  he  would  order  the  young 
man  to  the  naval  station  at  Bussora,  on  the  Persian 
Gulf,  for  three  years.  To  be  sent  to  Bussora  is  like 
being  sent  to  Cuba  in  yellow -fever  time. 

"The  young  man  came  to  me  asking,  'Must  I  marry 
this  sore-eyed  girl?1  I  could  not  help  him.  The  or- 
der for  his  exile  to  Bussora  was  actually  issued,  and 
only  overruled  by  the  appeal  at  my  suggestion  of  the 
weeping  mother  of  my  friend  to  a  Pasha  of  high  rank 
who  was  a  native  of  the  same  city  in  Bulgaria  as 
Ahmed  Bey,  and  who  had  access  to  the  ear  of  the 
Sultan." 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  habits  of  a  genera- 
tion will  be  changed  at  once.  The  Sultan  yielded  to 
the  demand  of  the  Young  Turks  for  a  Constitution, 
and  to  their  great  surprise  gave  it  without  a  word  of 
argument;  they  were  dealing  with  a  man  who  had 
granted  similar  favors,  with  a  smile,  even  as  he  did 
this  one ;  in  this  case  expressing  pleasure  that  the  re- 
quest had  come  from  his  people  through  Galib  Pasha, 
master  of  ceremonies.  In  1877  he  had  granted  a  Con- 
stitution, but  it  was  short-lived.  Doubtless  the  Sultan 
expected  that  the  one  given  in  1908  would  also  prove  a 
toy  which  would  soon  be  cast  aside,  or  a  weapon  which 
would  injure  those  who  were  unaccustomed  to  handle 
it.  Alas  for  the  Sultan,  he  was  dealing  this  time  with 
men  who  had  learned  in  Europe  and  America,  and  not 
a  few  of  them  in  the  college  on  the  banks  above  the 


102      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

Bosphorus,  what  Constitutional  liberty  means.  The 
massacres  at  Adana  still  suggest  awful  possibilities, 
but  it  is  not  believed  that  such  an  outrage  can  occur 
again  while  the  Young  Turks  are  in  power.  The  new 
Sultan,  the  brother  of  Abdul  Hamid,  reigns  as  Mo- 
hammed V. 

The  Ambassadors  and  Ministers  from  European 
and  Asiatic  capitals  and  from  Washington  are  in  the 
main  ardent  believers  in  the  purposes  and  achievements 
of  the  Young  Turks.  It  is  not  too  much  to  believe 
that  their  leaders  have  taken  advice  from  some  of  the 
foreign  diplomats  resident  in  Constantinople.  There 
are  friendly  interviews  and  dinner  conversations  which 
are  never  dignified  by  the  terms  "diplomatic  relations" 
which  often  mean  more  for  the  peace  of  nations  than 
a  formal  agreement. 

America  has  been  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  the 
men  sent  to  Turkey  as  Minister  and  Ambassador. 
Mr.  Oscar  S.  Straus  has  had  an  unusual  experience, 
having  been  appointed  by  President  Cleveland,  it  is 
said,  at  the  request  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  President 
Taft  selected  his  Cabinet  associate  for  Japan,  but  Mr. 
Straus  was  unable  to  go  to  Tokio.  and  failing  to  secure 
him  for  the  Ear  Orient,  the  President  urged  him  to  give 
the  new  administration  the  benefit  of  a  wide  business 
experience  and  recognized  diplomatic  ability  extending 
over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  return  to  his  post  in 
the  Near  Orient. 

The  rights  of   men   interested   in   the   investment  of 


THE   AMERICAN    AMBASSADOR        103 

capital  in  Turkey  for  financial  or  educational  purposes 
are  safe  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  cares  personally  for 
great  financial  interests  at  home  ;  the  poorest  American 
that  lands  in  the  dominion  finds  the  same  sympathetic 
heart  that  beat  in  behalf  of  laboring  men  when  the 
present  Ambassador  was  a  young  lawyer.  President 
Taft  knew  his  man  when  he  urged,  even  insistently, 
that  Mr.  Straus  should  become  the  Ambassador  to 
Turkey  in  this  its  time  of  change  and  reorganization, 
when  special  knowledge  and  rare  tact  and  limitless 
patience  are  needed.  In  these  qualities  and  in  many 
others  Mr.  Straus  and  his  charming  wife  excel. 

Mr.  Straus  believes  absolutely  in  the  honesty  of  pur- 
pose of  those  among  whom  he  labors.  Based  upon  an 
experience  covering  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he 
regards  the  Turkish  people  as  polite,  sincere  and  en- 
tirely trustworthy.  This  will  probably  bear  the  same 
qualification,  if  pressed  for  one,  that  he  would  make 
upon  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Many  of  the 
officials  in  Constantinople,  as  well  as  those  who  are 
representing  their  Government  abroad,  are,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Ambassador,  equal  in  ability  to  those 
from  other  nations;  the  Prime  Minister  of  Turkey 
is  as  well  versed  in  international  law,  as  capable  an 
official,  as  honest  a  man,  as  any  representative  from 
any  country.  His  word  can  be  relied  upon  absolutely. 
And  what  is  true  of  him  is  true  also  of  the  majority 
of  men  with  whom  the  Ambassador  has  to  deal. 

"The  missionaries  in  Turkey  were  never  so  safe,  nor 


104      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

their  interests  so  well  protected,1'  said  a  missionary  a 
few  years  ago,  "as  when  Great  Britain  had  a  Roman 
Catholic  Ambassador  and  America  was  represented  by 
a  Jew."  And  apparently  a  similar  feeling  exists  to- 
day between  the  missionaries  and  the  American  Am- 
bassador ;  each  trusts  the  other  absolutely. 

"We  are  very  glad  to  have  Mr.  Straus  with  us 
again,11  said  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Bible  Society. 
"The  change  in  Turkey  from  the  administration  of 
Abdul  Hamid  to  the  rule  of  the  Young  Turks  has 
wrought  wonders.  We  are  greatly  honored  by  having 
as  our  representative  one  who  sincerely  appreciates  the 
changed  condition  in  the  empire  and  who  has  the  in- 
terests of  his  fellow-countrymen  so  sincerely  at  heart  as 
does  Mr.  Straus.11 

Entertaining  in  her  hospitable  home  in  the  Embassy 
a  few  friends  from  America,  Mrs.  Straus  approved  her 
husband's  statement  that  many  of  the  missionaries  and 
college  professors  in  Turkey  were  really  statesmen.  An 
interesting  incident  was  related  attesting  the  high 
esteem  in  which  these  missionaries  and  educators  are 
held.  At  a  dinner-party  in  Washington  some  time 
ago,  it  is  said,  a  member  of  the  Senate  was  severely 
criticising  foreign  missionaries,  ridiculing  their  ability 
and  minimizing  the  importance  of  their  work.  After 
being  an  unwilling  listener  for  a  few  minutes,  Mrs. 
Straus  interrupted  him  with  the  remark  that  his  infor- 
mation, which  he  doubtless  received  at  second-hand, 
did  not  correspond  with  her  experiences  gained  in  Tur- 


DEFENDING   THE    MISSIONARIES      105 

key  and  Syria ;  that  the  missionaries  whom  she  had 
met,  and  she  had  seen  most  of  them,  were  not  ordinary 
people,  but  were  far  above  the  average  American  in 
education,  in  culture  and  in  good  judgment;  while 
there  might  be  here  and  there  one  not  so  prominent 
nor  so  efficient  as  preachers,  college  professors  or 
teachers  in  girls'  schools  in  America,  as  a  class  they 
were  superior  to  similar  classes  whom  she  had  known 
in  the  home  land. 

"What  are  they  doing  that  justifies  their  going  to  a 
foreign  country  to  try  to  change  old-time  customs  and 
ancient  religions?      Mention  one  single  thing. ', 

''Education.  The  colleges  and  schools  in  Turkey 
under  the  direction  of  American  missionaries  are 
models  of  their  kind,  and  the  professors  and  teachers 
are  doing  a  work  in  that  country  which  is  worthy  of 
all  praise." 

"But  what  one  missionary  does  in  a  foreign  country, 
even  in  the  matter  of  education,  is  only  a  drop  in  the 
bucket  and  is  not  worth  while.11 

"The  individual  work  of  a  missionary  in  a  country 
may  not  seem  to  be  more  than  a  'drop,1  but  the  com- 
bined labors  of  a  company  of  American  missionaries 
are  far  from  being  single  drops. ' ' 

"What  is  the  use  after  all?  What  does  it  all 
amount  to?  How  is  the  country  benefited  to  which 
they  go?  They  might  better  be  at  home  attending  to 
their  own  affairs.11 

"Their  achievement  in  the  matter  of  education,  for 


106      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

illustration,  compels  the  Governments  of  the  countries 
where  they  labor  to  improve  the  public  system  of  edu- 
cation— they  are  forced  to  do  this  when  they  see  the 
results  of  the  missionary  schools  and  colleges — the 
'drops'  to  which  you  refer.1' 

Better  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  work  of  mis- 
sionaries and  educators  could  not  be  desired,  for  it  was 
based  upon  personal  investigation  and  not  upon  mis- 
representation, and  the  Senator  was  glad  to  change  the 
subject.  By  the  way,  no  missionary  could  hope  to 
make  a  better  plea  in  talking  with  critics  of  missions 
than  that  presented  by  this  friend  of  the  missionaries. 

Discussing  problems,  political  as  well  as  missionary, 
in  American  and  other  countries  at  the  present  time, 
Mr.  Straus  said  that  the  millennium  was  not,  in  his 
judgment,  about  to  dawn  immediately,  but  that  the 
time  of  its  appearance  is  nearer  than  it  was  when  Mr. 
Roosevelt  began  his  administration  in  Washington. 
In  the  conversation  the  question  of  Socialism  was  sug- 
gested as  one  of  the  problems  likely  to  perplex  both 
America  and  European  countries  in  the  near  future. 

"What  is  Socialism,  Mr.  Straus?"  asked  a  member 
of  the  party. 

"A  pious  wish,"  was  the  quick  reply. 

"I  have  studied  the  question  of  Socialism  for  many 
years  and  heard  lectures  and  questioned  Socialists  and 
those  who  oppose  Socialism,  but  I  never  had  so  satis- 
factory and  so  succinct  a  definition — that  will  go  at 
once  in  my  commonplace  book."  the  inquirer  declared. 


TALKING   IN    RIDDLES  107 

A  story  is  current  that  is  so  thoroughly  characteristic 
of  the  Ambassador's  breadth  of  spirit  in  matters  relig- 
ious as  well  as  political  that  it  is  given  here  at  the  risk 
of  a  lack  of  diplomacy  on  the  part  of  the  author.  In 
one  of  his  earlier  residences  in  Constantinople,  word 
reached  the  Embassy  that  Bible  colporters  were  being 
interfered  with  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  The 
Ambassador  secured  possession  of  all  the  facts,  which 
were  placed  before  him  in  the  form  of  affidavits,  and 
then  called  officially,  and  with  all  the  dignity  due  his 
rank,  upon  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  When 
received  with  fitting  solemnity,  Mr.  Straus  said : 

"Word  has  just  come  to  me  that  His  Majesty,  the 
Sultan  of  Turkey,  is  taking  steps  which  will  lead  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
His  Majesty's  empire." 

' '  Such  a  rumor  is  absolutely  absurd  !  There  is  no 
possible  foundation  for  it.  It  is  only  a  rumor  and 
should  be  dismissed  at  once  as  one  of  the  idle  tales 
which  spring  up  now  and  then  in  official  circles  I1'  was 
the  reply  of  the  astonished  official,  who  failed  to  grasp 
the  attitude  of  the  Ambassador. 

"I  beg  to  differ  with  Your  Excellency,"  said  the 
American.  "'I  have  an  abundance  of  proof  for  every 
word  of  the  statement  which  I  have  made.  At  the 
proper  time  I  shall  be  willing  to  produce  it,  for  it  lies 
before  you  on  the  table  in  this  bundle  of  papers,  which 
bear  the  certified  signatures  of  my  informants.11 

"Pray  explain  your  meaning;   you  talk  in  riddles. 


108      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

His  Majesty  knows  nothing  of  the  subject  of  the  matter 
of  which  you  are  complaining,  nor  do  any  of  his  rep- 
resentatives.     What  do  you  mean?1' 

"Well,  the  country  which  I  have  the  honor  to  repre- 
sent has  certain  products  and  manufactures  which  our 
treaty  with  Turkey  allows  us  to  bring  into  Turkish 
ports  and  to  distribute  without  molestation  or  inter- 
ference of  any  kind  throughout  His  Majesty's  domains. 
Among  our  industries,  for  instance,  are  the  raising  of 
beans,  the  making  of  butter  and  the  publication  of 
books,  one  of  them  called  the  Bible.  In  the  name  of 
the  Government  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent, 
I  demand  that  the  distribution  of  the  Bible,  as  well  as 
butter  and  beans  and  other  articles  produced  in  the 
United  States,  shall  not  be  interfered  with  in  any  part 
of  the  empire.  If  that  is  not  done,  and  more  com- 
plaints come  to  me,  I  shall  report  the  matter  to  Wash- 
ington, and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  challenge  will 
be  met.  The  American  people  will  not  stand  for  vio- 
lation of  treaty  rights." 


CHAPTER    IX 
CROSS  AND  CRESCENT  IN  CONFLICT 


Fling  out  the  banner  !  let  it  float, 
Skyward  and  seaward,  high  and  wide ; 

The  sun  that  lights  its  shining  folds, 
The  Cross  on  which  the  Saviour  died. 

—George  W.  Doane. 

AFTER  looking  at  the  picturesque  minarets  tower- 
ing above  St.  Sophia  and  the  other  mosques  in 
Constantinople,  and  visiting  the  Bible  House  and  the 
colleges  carried  on  in  the  city  by  Christian  men  and 
women  from  America,  one  questions,  What  has  Prot- 
estant Christianity  done  in  the  Ottoman  Empire? 
What  progress  has  been  made  by  the  splendid  mission- 
ary effort  running  back  nearly  a  century?  What  is 
there  to  show  in  return  for  the  scores  of  noble  men  and 
women  who  have  given  their  lives  to  Turkey,  and  for 
the  wealth  which  has  been  expended  in  the  translation 
of  the  Bible,  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the  empire, 
and  the  erection  of  churches  and  hospitals  and  schools? 
Are  the  Moslems  being  reached  by  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  if  so,  is  it  changing  in  any  form  their  life 
or  their  religious  belief?  In  a  word,  is  the  Cross  a 
match  for  the  Crescent  in  the  land  where  the  latter 
has  held  sway  for  centuries? 

109 


110      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Questions  like  these  put  to  missionaries  and  Bible 
agents  and  educators  in  Turkey  brought  interesting 
responses,  frank  but  not  rose-colored.  The  missionaries 
cannot  point  like  the  missionaries  of  Korea,  for  exam- 
ple, to  thousands  of  conversions  in  a  single  year,  but 
they  are  in  no  sense  discouraged.  They  realize  the 
difficulties  of  the  situation,  but  they  believe  in  their 
cause  and  in  their  Leader;  they  believe  that  they  are 
possessors  of  that  which  is  to  revolutionize  the  peoples 
of  the  empire. 

The  missionaries,  moreover,  do  not  attempt  to  con- 
ceal facts  nor  to  minimize  the  difficulties  which  con- 
front them  in  Turkey,  and  more  especially  in  and  about 
Constantinople.  In  speaking  of  the  impress  made  by 
Christianity  upon  men  holding  the  Moslem  faith,  an 
American  missionary  who  has  been  more  than  half  a 
century  in  the  Turkish  Empire  gave  the  author  this 
significant  statement: 

"We  come  now  to  the  question  which  is  most  often 
asked,  the  question  which  has  a  right  to  be  asked,  and 
to  which  we  are  most  desirous  of  offering  a  reply, 
namely,  Have  American  missionaries  in  Turkey  done 
anything  for  Mohammedans,  and  what  have  they  done 
and  with  what  results?  Within  the  three  Turkey  Mis- 
sions of  the  American  Board  the  number  of  converts 
from  Islam,  that  is.  the  number  baptized,  lias  been  less 
than  twoscore. 

The  avowed  aim  of  the  American  Board,  as  explained 
by  this  veteran  worker,  in    'lie  inception  of  its  work  in 


MISSIONARY  INFLUENCE  EXTENDED    111 

Turkey,  was  to  reach  the  Mohammedan  population 
with  the  Gospel.  It  was,  however,  evident  from  the 
outset  that  till  Mohammedans  could  have  a  better  ob- 
ject lesson  of  Christian  living  presented  to  them  than 
had  been  given  by  the  Eastern  Churches,  it  would  be 
futile  to  invite  them  even  seriously  to  inquire  concern- 
ing the  truth  and  the  claims  of  Christianity.  Mission- 
ary work  was  begun,  therefore,  among  the  adherents  of 
the  Eastern  Churches,  especially  among  Armenians, 
because  they  were  found  most  accessible. 

''What  about  the  results  in  figures  aside  from  those 
concerning  the  Moslems?'11  the  missionary  was  asked. 
This  was  his  reply : 

"The  number  of  Protestants  in  the  Ottoman  Empire, 
not  including  Egypt,  is  about  one  hundred  thousand. 
In  the  three  Turkey  Missions,  not  including  Syria  or 
Bulgaria,  there  are  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  Evan- 
gelical churches,  with  14,174  members.  251  places  of 
regular  Sunday  service,  with  172  preachers,  155  mis- 
sionaries, of  whom  108  are  women.  1.045  native  la- 
borers. 22.369  pupils  under  instruction  in  the  seven 
colleges,  39  high  schools  and  346  other  schools ;  and 
native  contributions  last  year  for  all  purposes  aggre- 
gated $125,434.  These  statements,  however,  are 
altogether  inadequate.  If  taken  by  themselves  alone 
they  are  absolutely  misleading.  Influences  that  do  not 
yield  themselves  to  statistical  statement,  which  have 
gone  out  into  the  life  of  the.ce  Christian  races,  have  been 
rapidly  cumulative  and  beneficent,  purifying,  educative 


112      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

and    uplifting,    as   the    years    and   the    decades   have 
passed.11 

"How  did  the  Moslems  come  to  let  the  Christian 
missionaries  get  a  foothold  in  the  empire?11 

"When  those  very  able  men,  Goodell,  Dwight, 
Schauffler,  Hamlin  and  Riggs,  came  to  Turkey,  the 
Turks  said :  '  Well,  these  amiable  lunatics  cannot  do  us 
any  harm  ;  they  may  perhaps  do  the  Giaours  some  good  ; 
they  need  it  badly  enough. '  So  they  protected  the 
missionaries  and  their  converts  in  times  of  persecution 
from  the  ecclesiastics.  The  American  missionaries 
proceeded  to  occupy  strategic  positions  in  the  empire. 
Through  schools  and  the  press  their  influence  was  ex- 
tended and  consolidated.  Evangelical  churches  were 
formed  in  the  various  centers  of  the  Mohammedan 
population.11 

"How  is  the  changed  attitude  of  the  former  Sultan 
explained?11 

"In  1895  and  1896  they  asked  one  another:  'Who 
are  these  men  who  are  championing  the  cause  of  the 
seditious  Armenians  whom  we  are  disciplining?" 

"  'American  missionaries,1  was  the  reply. 

' '  '  Why  do  you  not  send  them  all  out  of  the  country  ? ' 
asked  the  Russian  Ambassador.  It  is  a  fact  that  an 
edict  was  issued  from  the  Palace  in  the  winter  of  1896-7 
for  the  expulsion  of  the  American  missionaries.  In 
the  following  March  one  of  them  was  forcibly  taken 
under  guard  from  a  remote  interior  city  to  the  coast  of 
Alexandretta.      There,  at  the  prompt  and  decisive  in- 


MISSIONARIES    IN    DANGER  113 

terposition  of  the  United  States  Charge  d1  Affaires, 
Mr.  Riddle,  he  was  taken  under  the  protection  of  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  and  is  still  an  active  member  of  the 
missionary  force.  The  Turks  found  in  Sir  Philip 
Currie  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  rights  of  the  mission- 
aries, and  aside  from  the  non-execution  of  their  decree, 
they  denied  that  it  had  ever  been  issued.  From  that 
time  on,  the  American  missionaries  and  educators  resi- 
dent in  the  country  were  to  the  Turks  the  "observed  of 
all  observers.1  " 

"What  was  the  effect  on  the  work?1' 

"Note  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  under  the 
reactionary  reign  of  Abdul  Hamid,  with  his  unscrupu- 
lous, minute  and  universal  system  of  espionage  and 
his  hostility  toward  all  missionary  enterprises,  the 
missionaries  not  only  held  their  own  everywhere,  they 
greatly  extended  their  work,  especially  in  education 
and  in  the  maintenance  of  hospitals  and  dispensaries.'1 

"Why  was  this?11 

"Because  the  Turkish  people,  in  the  face  of  Palace 
hostility,  recognized  the  value  of  what  the  missionaries 
offered  them,  and  were  bound  to  profit  by  it.  Just 
before  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Abdul  Aziz,  after  a 
prolonged  struggle,  permission  was  obtained  for  the 
circulation  of  the  Bible  with  the  imperial  imprimatur, 
and  several  other  Christian  books  in  Osmanli  Turkish 
were  passed  through  the  censorship  in  the  early  years 
of  Abdul  Hamid's  reign.  The  result  was  that  this 
imprimatur  made  it  possible  for  Mohammedans  to  defy 


114      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

the  creatures  of  the  Palace,  and  buy  and  read  Christian 
Scriptures  when  they  chose.  They  did  so  buy  and  read 
these  books  by  the  thousand,  even  in  the  darkest  years 
of  the  late  despotic  reign." 

"What  about  the  by-products  of  missionary  effort?" 

"The  purely  philanthropic  work,  which  in  times  of 
distress  and  calamity  has  sometimes,  for  months  to- 
gether, taken  almost  all  the  time  and  strength  of  the 
missionary  force,  has  been  profoundly  impressive  as 
illustrative  of  practical  Christianity.  Leading  laymen 
of  the  Armenian  and  Greek  nationalities  have  in  recent 
years  been  quick  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  educa- 
tional work  done  by  American  missionaries,  and  have 
established  and  conducted  schools  on  our  models. 
Their  priests  are  better  educated,  the  social  conditions 
are  improved,  and  a  higher  plane  of  business  integrity 
is  demanded.  There  is  less  of  bare  form  and  more  of 
spiritual  life  in  the  old  churches  than  in  the  past. " 

"Does  the  Turk  recognize  the  missionary  as  a  phi- 
lanthropist?" 

"In  1896',  when  the  Government  was  doing  its  ut- 
most to  hinder  and  baffle  the  missionaries  in  their  relief 
work,  the  people,  and  many  Government  officers  also, 
respected  and  admired  their  persistence  in  the  work  of 
unselfish  charity  in  the  face  of  the  overwhelming  ob- 
stacles. Under  the  old  regime  no  Palace  influence 
ever  led  a  Mohammedan  to  go,  or  to  take  a  member  of 
liis  family,  to  be  treated  at  a  missionary  dispensary  or 
cared  for  in  a  missionary  hospital.     Hut  Mohammedans 


THE   GOSPEL   IN   MANY   TONGUES    115 

came  as  much  as  they  do  now  to  our  hospitals  and  dis- 
pensaries, came  by  thousands,  and  went  away  grateful 
and  sympathetic. ' ' 

"How  have  the  missionaries  affected  the  Mohamme- 
dans?" 

"It  will  seem  to  some  a  rash  and  unsupported  state- 
ment, but  I  deliberately  express  my  conviction  that  the 
work  of  American  missionaries  in  Turkey  has  had 
greater  influence,  in  ways  the  beneficent  and  far-reach- 
ing results  of  which  the  future  will  reveal,  upon  the 
Mussulman  than  upon  the  Christian  population  of  the 
country. ' ' 

The  mission  work  carried  on  by  Presbyterian  mission- 
aries in  Syria  and  that  done  by  Reformed  Church 
workers  in  Arabia  would  doubtless  differ  somewhat, 
perhaps  in  some  particulars  a  great  deal,  from  that 
presented  so  frankly  by  the  Congregational  brethren 
in  Northern  Turkey. 

To  see  mission  work  in  Constantinople  at  its  best  the 
visitor  should  spend  a  Sunday  in  the  city  and  go  from 
one  meeting  to  another,  as  he  may  do  almost  without 
intermission.  He  will  not  find  many  large  congrega- 
tions or  Sunday-schools,  but  he  will  find  many  held 
in  various  languages.  In  one  he  may  hear  "Praise 
God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow"  sung  in  Armenian 
to  the  tune  of  "Old  Hundred."  and  in  another,  two 
blocks  away,  hear  a  service  in  Greek,  and  still  a  third 
service  with  a  Greek  preacher  delivering  an  eloquent 
sermon,  this  to  be  followed  by  a  service  in  Turkish  in 


116      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

the  same  chapel.  In  an  old  shed  in  the  heart  of  the 
city  he  will  find  another  congregation  of  Armenians 
with  a  Sunday-school  following  this  service.  The 
Bible  House  and  the  Mission  House  he  may  see  filled 
with  classes,  some  learning  the  Gospel  in  Greek,  some 
in  Armenian  and  some  in  Turkish,  with  a  Christian 
Association  service  conducted  by  an  Armenian.  If 
time  permits,  he  can  visit  congregations  far  away  from 
the  center  of  the  town,  one  at  Hasskeuy  on  the  Golden 
Horn  and  another  in  Scutari.  English  services  for  the 
girls  at  the  American  College  in  Scutari  and  the  boys 
at  Robert  College  on  the  Bosphorus,  and  still  other 
services  for  Greeks  and  Armenians  along  the  Bospho- 
rus, indicate  that  mission  work  is  strong  and  varied  in 
the  capital  of  the  empire. 

Two  members  of  the  Mission  Station  at  Constanti- 
nople, Dr.  Greene  and  Dr.  Herrick,  passed  the  fiftieth 
milestone  of  their  missionary  service  not  long  ago. 
In  a  retrospect  of  those  fifty  years  these  veterans 
note  three  important  changes  in  the  conduct  of  the 
work  : 

1.  The  establishment  of  high  schools  and  colleges. 

2.  The  opening  of  hospitals  and  dispensaries. 

3.  The  phenomenal  increase  in  the  number  of  women 
missionaries. 

In  summing  up  the  work  of  this  long  period  Dr. 
Herrick  says  optimistically: 

"We.  who  together  have  given  a  century  of  service  to 
evangelistic  work  in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  exult  in  the 


TRACTS    AND    PAPERS    ISSUED         117 

privilege  so  long  granted  us  of  sharing  in  a  work  on 
which  the  divine  blessing  has  so  conspicuously  rested, 
and  we  bid  all  who  come  after  us  to  work  with  a  firm 
confidence  that  advance  in  the  years  to  come  in  all  de- 
partments of  our  common  work  will  be  with  accelerated 
velocity,  will  be  with  a  wider  constituency  than  hereto- 
fore, will  enlist  a  vastly  increased  number  of  compe- 
tent laborers,  will  do  more  than  any  other  influence  or 
agency  to  contribute  to  the  safe  and  permanent  estab- 
lishment of  real  liberty  and  constitutional  government 
and  to  the  final  triumph  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  this  land/' 

The  work  of  publishing  the  Bible  had  been  begun 
by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  Turkey 
before  the  American  missionaries  began  their  work, 
and  has  since  been  carried  on  jointly  by  the  British 
and  American  Bible  Societies,  the  translation  being 
done  by  missionaries.  Schoolbooks.  tracts.  Sunday- 
school  helps  and  other  religious  literature  are  prepared 
and  printed  by  the  Mission  Press  carried  on  by  the 
American  Mission  in  the  Bible  House  at  Constanti- 
nople. The  Mission  Press  also  sends  out  a  weekly 
family  paper  and  a  monthly  illustrated  paper  for 
children.  The  tracts  which  it  publishes  are  made  pos- 
sible by  money  given  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society 
of  London  and  by  the  American  Tract  Society  of  New 
York.  While  much  of  the  literature  is  intended  for 
adults,  the  missionaries  have  ever  been  mindful  of  the 
children,   and    from    primers,   intended    for  the   little 


118      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

people,  they  have  gone  on  to  schoolbooks  for  them  as 
they  grew  older. 

The  entire  Bible  has  been  translated  into  all  the 
principal  languages  of  the  Empire,  has  undergone  re- 
peated and  most  careful  revision,  has  been  issued  in 
many  and  varied  editions,  and  sold  to  the  extent  of 
three  million  volumes,  reckoning  Testaments  and  por- 
tions. Other  Christian  literature,  periodical  and  per- 
manent, has  been  issued  at  an  average  of  about  ten 
million  pages  a  year. 

The  story  of  the  Turkish  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
begins  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  when  a  Turkish 
official  named  Ali  Bey,  with  the  advice  of  a  Dutch 
gentleman  connected  with  the  diplomatic  service  at 
Constantinople,  translated  the  New  Testament  into 
Turkish.  Whether  he  did  this  out  of  mere  love  for 
literary  work  or  because  he  thought  it  would  benefit 
his  people  to  read  the  Bible  is  not  clear  to  the  mind  of 
Dr.  Dwight,  who  tells  the  story.  Ali  Bey  gave  the 
finished  manuscript  to  his  Dutch  friend,  who  sent  it  to 
the  University  at  Leyden  in  the  hope  that  it  would  be 
published  there.  It  was  put  into  the  library  of  the 
University  as  a  curiosity,  and  lay  there  for  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years,  when  a  Russian  nobleman  rummag- 
ing through  the  treasures  of  the  library  discovered  the 
manuscript  and  tried  to  get  it  published  for  circulation 
in  Turkey.  About  this  time  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  had  been  organized.  The  first  Turk- 
ish version  of  the   New  Testament  published  for  that 


VERSIONS  OF  THE  TURKISH   BIBLE    119 

Society  at  Paris  in  1819  was  the  work  of  a  Moham- 
medan, revised  and  improved  by  Russian  and  French 
linguists. 

There  have  been  several  versions  of  the  Turkish  Bible, 
and  the  one  in  use  now  is  the  work  of  a  committee 
composed  of  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  and 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England,  assisted 
by  three  Turkish  scholars.  This  version  is  now  printed 
in  three  editions,  one  in  Arabic,  one  in  Armenian  and 
one  with  the  Greek  letters.  "It  is  fair  to  claim,11  says 
Dr.  D wight,  "that  the  missionaries  have  at  least  con- 
vinced the  people  of  the  Eastern  Church,  both  Greeks 
and  Armenians,  that  as  Christians  they  ought  to  read 
and  understand  the  Bible  instead  of  merely  worshiping 
it  on  the  altar  like  any  other  relic  of  antiquity.  This 
success  alone,  by  the  way,  is  enough  to  justify  missions 
in  Turkey.11 

The  Bible  House  in  Constantinople  was  conceived 
by  the  Rev.  Isaac  G.  Bliss,  D.D.,  then  agent  at  Con- 
stantinople. He  raised  the  money  and  saw  the  work 
completed.  The  building  is  owned  by  trustees  char- 
tered by  the  State  of  New  York.  When  the  excava- 
tions were  being  made  for  the  foundations  of  the  Bible 
House,  the  contractors  came  upon  a  pile  of  the  Byzan- 
tine period  whose  roof  was  supported  by  columns 
marked  with  the  Greek  Cross,  near  which  were  the 
massive  foundations  of  a  small  Christian  Church  whose 
peculiar  bricks  seemed  to  fix  the  date  of  its  construc- 
tion at  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century. 


120      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

This  chapter  must  end  as  it  began,  with  a  question : 
Will  the  Cross  or  the  Crescent  win  in  the  conflict  in 
Turkey?  This  query  does  not  imply  doubt  in  the  mind 
of  the  writer  so  much  as  uncertainty  regarding  the 
manner  in  which  the  subject  is  to  be  viewed  in  the  near 
future  by  Christian  people  in  Europe  and  America, 
principally  in  America.  Forty  converts  from  Moham- 
medanism in  eighty  years  of  noble  missionary  effort  in 
Northern  Turkey  are  more  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected in  view  of  all  the  circumstances,  but  that  record 
does  not  suggest  an  easy  or  an  early  victory  or  even  a 
final  victory  for  the  Cross.  Whether  or  not  Christian- 
ity shall  eventually  win  the  Mohammedans  seems  to 
depend  very  much  upon  whether  or  not  Christians  in 
America  think  it  worth  while  now  to  reinforce  the 
workers  on  the  field  with  a  force  sufficiently  strong  in 
numbers,  and  in  training,  and  properly  equipped  to 
ensure  victory.  That  this  is  a  time  of  crisis  in  Moham- 
medan affairs  is  evident  to  every  student  of  world- 
problems.  It  seems  to  many  that  Moslems  are  more 
alive  to  the  situation  than  Christians  are.  This  is  the 
time  to  sing; 

'"Fling  out  the  banner!  wide  and  high, 
Seaward  and  skyward,  let  it  shine : 
Nor  skill,  nor  might,  nor  merit  ours; 
We  conquer  only  in  that  sign.1' 


CHAPTER    X 
SMYRNA       AND        EPHESUS 


As  far  as  the  Phaeacian  race  excel 

In  guiding  their  swift  galleys  o'er  the  deep. 

So  far  the  women  in  their  woven  work. 

A  spacious  garden  of  four  acres  lay, 

A  hedge  enclosed  it  round,  and  lofty  trees 

Flourished  in  generous  growth  within:  the  pear 

And  the  pomegranate,  and  the  apple-tree 

With  its  fair  fruitage,  and  the  luscious  fig 

And  olive  always  green.    The  fruit  they  bear 

Falls  not,  nor  ever  fails  in  winter-time 

Nor  summer,  but  is  yielded  all  the  year. 

The  ever-blowing  west  wind  causes  some 

To  swell  and  some  to  ripen  ;  pear  succeeds 

To  pear  ;  to  apple  apple,  grape  to  grape, 

Fig  ripens  after  fig.     A  fruitful  field 

Of  vines  was  planted  near  ;  in  part  it  lay 

Open  and  basking  in  the  sun,  which  dried 

The  soil,  and  here  men  gathered  in  the  grapes, 

And  there  they  trod  the  winepress. 

—  From  the  Odyssey. 

THE  Gulf  of  Smyrna,  thirty-four  miles  long,  is  one 
of  the  grandest  in  the  ^Egean  Sea.  The  south- 
ern shore  is  extremely  picturesque  with  its  mountain 
scenery :  the  north  shore  is  not  so  interesting,  as  it  is 
occupied  for  the  most  part  by  the  vast  alluvial  plain 
of  the  Hermus.  This  river  at  one  time  threatened  to 
close  the  approach  to  Smyrna  altogether,  but  the  Gov- 
ernment diverted  the  river  into  the  Agria  Bay.  After 
passing  the  Sanjah  Kole,  an  old  Turkish  fort  erected 

121 


122      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  recently  renovated  and 
transformed  into  a  very  strong  modern  fortress  with 
heavy  guns,  a  beautiful  range  of  mountains  appears. 
On  both  sides,  as  the  steamer  threads  her  way  to  the 
harbor,  are  the  suburbs  of  Smyrna,  forming  a  line  of 
summer  residences,  while  directly  in  front  stands  the 
city  of  Smyrna. 

The  population  of  Smyrna  is  about  350,000,  of 
whom  two-fifths  are  Mohammedans,  and  nearly  two- 
thirds  Greeks ;  the  rest  is  made  up  largely  of  Armenian 
and  Jewish  communities  and  colonies  fron  many  coun- 
tries in  Europe.  The  trade  of  Smyrna  is  important. 
The  principal  products  are  corn,  raisins,  figs,  cotton, 
opium,  drugs,  tobacco,  oil,  wood,  hides,  silk,  carpets, 
emery,  and  antimony. 

Christianity  nourished  early  in  Smyrna.  Here  was 
one  of  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia,  to  which  John  wrote 
the  letters  given  in  the  second  and  third  chapters  of 
the  book  of  the  Revelation.  These  letters  are  read  by 
the  majority  of  Christian  travelers  as  they  sail  up  the 
Gulf  of  Smyrna,  or  wait  on  the  deck  for  the  ship's 
papers  to  be  passed.  The  following  is  the  letter  sent 
to  the  one  church  of  the  Seven  which  has  remained 
apparently  with  an  unbroken  history  since  the  Gospel 
seed  was  sown  there  nineteen  centuries  ago : 

"And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write: 
These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last,  which  was 
dead,  and  is  alive:  I  know  thy  works  and  tribulation 
and  poverty  (but  thou  art  rich),  and  I   know  the  bias- 


CHARACTERISTICS    OF   SMYRNA       123 

phemy  of  them  which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not, 
but  are  the  synagogue  of  Satan.  Fear  none  of  those 
things  which  thou  shalt  suffer:  behold,  the  devil  shall 
cast  some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried ; 
and  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ten  days ;  be  thou  faith- 
ful unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life. 
He  that  hath  an  ear.  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith 
unto  the  churches ;  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be 
hurt  of  the  second  death.1 ' 

In  describing  Smyrna  in  his  tour  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Charles  Dudley  Warner  wrote  this  character- 
istic paragraph : 

* '  One  of  the  most  ancient  cities  of  the  globe,  it  has 
no  appearance  of  antiquity ;  containing  all  nationali- 
ties, it  has  no  nationality  ;  the  second  commercial  city  of 
the  East,  it  has  no  Chamber  of  Commerce,  no  Bourse, 
no  commercial  unity ;  its  citizens  are  of  no  country, 
and  have  no  impulse  of  patriotism  ;  it  is  an  Asiatic  city 
with  a  European  face  ;  it  produces  nothing,  it  exchanges 
everything;  the  children  of  the  East  are  sent  to  its 
schools,  but  it  has  no  literary  character  nor  any  influ- 
ence of  culture ;  it  is  hospitable  to  all  religions,  and 
conspicuous  for  none ;  it  is  the  paradise  of  the  Turks, 
the  home  of  luxury  and  of  beautiful  women." 

Two  classmates  of  the  author's  in  Union  Seminary 
are  missionaries  in  Smyrna,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Mac- 
Lachlan,  the  President  of  the  International  College, 
and  the  Rev.  J.  P.  MacNaughton,  the  head  of  the  evan- 
gelistic work  in  the  city.      The  former  began  his  work 


124      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

in  Turkey  in  St.  Paul's  Institute  in  Tarsus,  but  in 
1891  he  went  to  Smyrna  and  started  the  American 
High  School  in  rented  premises  with  eighteen  pupils. 


AMERICAN    COLLEGIATE    INSTITUTE,     SMYRNA 


In  1903  the  institution  was  incorporated  as  a  college, 
its  charter  being  granted  by  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  under  the  corporate  title  of  "The  Trus- 
tees of  the   International   College,  Smyrna,  Turkey." 


EDUCATION   ON   A    HIGH    PLANE     125 

The  American  Collegiate  Institute,  established  by  the 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  Boston,  does  for  the 
girls  of  Smyrna  what  the  International  College  does 
for  the  boys.  Its  aim  is  to  promote  the  highest  intel- 
lectual and  moral  development  of  all  who  attend.  It 
is  a  Christian  school,  aiming  to  make  its  students 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  teaching  of  Christ,  so 
that  His  principles  may  become  the  controlling  power 
of  their  lives.  The  motto  of  the  Institute  is,  "Not  to 
be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister.1' 

The  following  quatrain  seen  in  the  hall  of  the 
Institute,  while  not  the  motto  of  the  school,  might  prop- 
erly become  the  principle  upon  which  Christian  men 
and  women  should  base  their  conduct : 

' '  Life  is  merely  froth  and  bubble, 
Two  things  stand  like  stone: 
Kindness  in  another's  trouble, 
Courage  in  your  own." 

It  is  a  weary  climb  from  the  bazaars  of  Smyrna  to 
the  Acropolis  on  Mount  Pagus,  but  one  loses  sight  of 
weariness  when  his  traveling  companions  are  congenial 
and  his  guide  ideal.  As  one  climbs  the  hill  and  looks 
back  upon  the  traditional  birthplace  of  Homer,  on  the 
bank  of  the  river  Meles,  he  recalls  that 

"Seven  cities  strove  for  Homer,  dead, 
Through  which  the  living  Homer  begged  his  bread." 

From  the  heights  overlooking  the  city  one  looks  down 
on  the  plain  over  which  Alexander  marched  as  he  con- 


126      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

quered  the  city.  Still  we  ascend,  stopping  now  and 
again  to  repeat  history,  but  more  especially  to  let  the 
horses  rest.      At  last  we  left  the  carriage  and  went  on 


TOMB    OF    POLYCARP,     SMYRNA 


foot  to  the  Stadium  in  which  Polycarp,  the  second 
Bishop  of  Smyrna,  was  put  to  death  about  16(5  A.  D. 
As  Polycarp  was  a  pupil  of  the  Apostle  John,  one  is 
very  near  the  beginning  of  Clu'istianity  when  he  stands 


WHERE    POLYCARP    DIED  127 

at  the  tomb  of  the  martyr  with  the  Stadium  a  stone's 
throw  away.  Irenaeus,  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  wrote  : 
"I  can  also  tell  the  very  place  where  the  blessed 
Polycarp  was  accustomed  to  sit  and  discourse  ;  and  also 
his  entrances,  his  walks,  the  complexion  of  his  life  and 
the  form  of  his  body,  and  his  conversation  with  the 
people,  and  his  familiar  intercourse  with  John,  as  he 
was  accustomed  to  tell,  as  also  his  familiarity  with 
those  who  had  seen  the  Lord. 

It  stirs  one's  blood  to  recall  on  the  spot  the  dying 
words  of  Polycarp,  when  asked  by  Statius  Quadratus, 
the  Proconsul,  to  revile  Christ:  "Eighty  and  six  years 
have  I  served  Him,  and  He  has  never  done  me 
wrong.  How  then  can  I  blaspheme  my  King  that 
saved  me?" 

In  Smyrna  one  hears  stories  of  twentieth  century 
brigandage  which  cause  the  traditional  hairs  to  stand 
on  end.  As  we  swung  around  corners  on  our  way  up 
Mount  Pagus,  clinging  to  the  sides  of  the  carriage  as  the 
wheels  sunk  into  holes  in  the  unpaved  streets,  or  walked 
up  steep  inclines  when  the  horses  objected  to  the  men 
enjoying  the  comfort  of  the  ride,  our  American  com- 
panion, who  was  also  for  the  day  our  guide,  told  of 
many  experiences  in  which  he  had  been  personally  in- 
terested through  acquaintance  or  relationship  with  the 
victims. 

"Not  long  ago  a  relative  of  a  missionary's  family 
was  returning  home  in  the  late  afternoon  accompanied. 
by  a  servant   and  when  within  a  short  distance  of  his 


128      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

home  the  two  were  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  party  of 
eleven  brigands.  The  odds  were  so  manifestly  in  favor 
of  the  outlaws  that  they  were  thrown  off  their  guard 
until  the  young  man,  drawing  his  revolver,  fired  into 
the  company,  wounding  two  or  three  of  his  would-be 
captors.  The  fire  was  returned  and  the  servant  was 
severely  wounded.  So  surprised  were  the  bandits  and 
so  calm  was  their  intended  victim  that  in  the  darkness 
he  was  able  to  reach  his  father's  home  without  bodily 
injury  or  without  losing  the  money  which  the  bandits 
had  hoped  to  secure  as  his  ransom. 

"A  physician,  who  had  been  kind  to  a  brigand 
when  he  was  shot,  received  letters  bearing  his  signature 
demanding  small  sums  of  money,  and  threatening  his 
life  if  he  did  not  send  the  money.  Being  obliged  to 
go  out  nights,  he  secured  the  services  of  two  men  to  act 
as  his  bodyguard,  and  he  never  went  out  in  the  eve- 
ning without  having  both  the  men  with  him.  As 
the  intimidating  letters  kept  coming  with  greater 
and  still  greater  insistence,  and  with  threats  of  imme- 
diate vengeance,  he  entrusted  the  amount  asked  for 
to  one  of  his  men  and  sent  him  off  to  give  it  to  the 
brigand. 

"For  a  time  the  letters  ceased;  then  new  ones  began 
to  come,  demanding  more  money  and  threatening  to 
kill  the  doctor  in  spite  of  his  guard  if  it  were  not  sent 
to  the  place  designated  at  a  given  time.  In  view  of 
his  having  helped  the  brigand  in  a  time  of  trouble,  he 
failed  to  understand  his  ingratitude,  and  finally  sent 


USING    A    BRIGANDS    NAME  129 

a  friend  to  the  mountains  to  meet  him  and  seek  an 
explanation. 

""When  the  outlaw  saw  the  letters  he  was  extremely 
indignant,  and  declared  that  he  had  never  signed  them, 
and  that  some  one  was  using  his  name  to  secure  money 
from  the  physician.  Acting  upon  the  advice  given  by 
him,  the  friend  ascertained  from  the  guard  who  carried 
the  money  the  name  of  the  man  to  whom  he  gave  it, 
and  then  invited  the  two  men  to  the  same  house,  neither 
knowing  that  the  other  was  to  be  present.  Drawing  a 
revolver  upon  the  man  who  had  received  the  money,  he 
threatened  to  kill  him  if  he  did  not  explain  what  the 
transaction  meant.  The  threat  did  not  terrify  the  sus- 
pected man,  and  a  knife  was  drawn  and  this  fearful 
future  outlined:  'First,  I  will  cut  you  up  with  this 
knife  and  then  I  will  empty  the  revolver  into  your 
body. '  This  was  too  much  even  for  a  brigand,  and  he 
broke  down  and  confessed  that  the  guard  and  he  had 
divided  the  money.  Going  then  to  the  other  room, 
the  third  degree  was  tried,  but  without  success.  With 
an  air  of  injured  innocence  the  servant  denied  all  com- 
plicity in  spite  of  every  threat  that  was  made.  Then 
the  door  was  opened  and  the  man  was  brought  in  who 
had  made  the  confession.  The  servant  admitted  his 
guilt,  was  discharged,  and  the  doctor  is  now  free  from 
the  threatening  letters.11 

"Was  nothing  done  about  the  blackmail?11  asked 
one  of  the  party. 

' '  '  Least  done  soonest  mended"'  was  a  proverb  which 


130      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

I  learned  in  America,  and  it  works  in  Turkey  as  well 
as  in  other  countries.  But  here  is  Polycarp's  tomb, 
and  I  want  to  test  the  guard. , ' 

"Whose  tomb  is  this?1*  he  asked. 

'"Joseph's,"  was  the  prompt  reply  of  the  Moham- 
medan. 

"But  isn't  it  sometimes  called  Polycarp's?'1 

"It  is  Polycarp's  for  the  Christian  and  Joseph's  for 
the  Moslem.11 

The  ruins  at  Ephesus  reached  from  Smyrna  are  of  in- 
terest chiefly  to  Bible  students,  teachers,  and  the  clergy. 


GATEWAY    OF    ST.     JOHN  S    CHURCH,     EPHESUS 

Ephesus  is  forty-eight  miles  from  Smyrna  by  train 
over  a  well-built  roadbed.  It  is  a  pleasant  trip  through 
a  well-tilled  valley,  where  all  the  picturesque  activities 
of  Oriental  life  may  be  seen  on  every  side.     The  ruins 


ONE   OF  THE   SEVEN    WONDERS      131 

are  somewhat  scattered,  and  not  very  impressive ;  but 
there  are  many  evidences  to  show  that  it  was  one  of  the 
greatest  and  grandest  of  ancient  cities.  The  Theatre 
where  the  Apostle  Paul  condemned  the  worship  of  the 
goddess  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,  much  to  the  alarm  of 
Demetrius  the  silversmith,  and  the  ruins  of  the  Temple 
of  Diana  itself,  one  of  the  famous  structures  of  ancient 
times  as  well  as  one  of  the  "Seven  Wonders  of  the 
World,"  are  the  most  important. 

The  city  of  Ephesus  was  founded  by  Greek  colonists 
perhaps  1000  B.  C.  When  Alexander  arrived  there, 
the  Temple  of  Diana  was  being  constructed  on  the  site 
of  the  Artemisium,  which  was  burned  in  334  B.  C. 
The  second  temple  enjoyed  a  world-wide  reputation. 
It  was  feared  that  "the  great  goddess  Diana  should  be 
despised  and  her  magnificence  should  be  destroyed, 
whom  Asia  and  all  the  world  worshipeth, ' '  the  Ephe- 
sians said  of  her,  in  their  discission  with  Paul.  Ephesus 
became  in  the  early  Christian  centuries  the  head  of  the 
churches  in  Asia.  Paul,  Timothy  and  John  belonged 
to  this  church  ;  here,  also,  the  Third  Ecumenical  Coun- 
cil was  held  in  431,  when  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus 
was  proclaimed  the  mother  of  God.  To-day  the  fields 
in  the  ruins  belong  to  the  inhabitants  of  Kirkinje,  a 
village  in  the  hills  to  the  east,  and  to  those  of  Scala 
Nova.  As  one  looks  about  over  this  mass  of  ruins  of 
splendid  buildings,  all  of  which  were  in  their  glory  in 
Paul's  day,  and  in  some  of  which  the  great  apostle 
delivered  his  powerful  addresses,  he  thinks  of  that  scene 


132      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

recorded  in  Acts  20.  where  Paul  gave  his  memorable 
charge  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  bade  them  remember 
the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus:  "It  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive,"'  and  kneeling  down  prayed  with 
them  all.  Surely,  though  in  ruins,  Ephesus  is  holy 
ground ! 


CHAPTER   XI 
BEIRUT,  DAMASCUS   AND    BAALBEC 


"  I  thought  in  Syria  life  was  more  than  death  ; 
A  tomb  there  was  forsaken  of  its  dead  ; 
But  death  filled  not  the  place  ;  here  with  bowed  head 
Worships  the  world  forever  at  the  tread 
Of  one  who  lived,  who  liveth,  and  shall  live— 
Whose  grave  is  but  a  footstep  on  the  sod  ; 
Men  kiss  the  ground  where  living  feet  have  trod. 
Here  not  to  Death,  but  Life,  they  worship  give. 
August  is  death,  but  this  one  tomb  is  rife 
With  a  more  mighty  presence— it  is  Life." 

—Richard  Watson  Gilder. 

BEIRUT  occupies  a  considerable  part  of  the  south 
side  of  St.  George's  Bay,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  Mediterranean.  It  is  the  chief  commercial  town 
of  Syria,  the  chief  city  of  the  vilayet  of  the  same 
name,  the  residence  of  the  Vali,  the  seat  of  a  Latin 
Archbishop,  a  Greek  Orthodox  Bishop,  a  Maronite 
Bishop,  and  the  United  Greek  Patriarch  of  the  East, 
who  lives  in  rotation  at  Beirut,  Damascus,  and  Alex- 
andria. The  town  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  slopes 
of  Ras  Beirut  and  St.  Dimitri,  facing  the  sea.  The 
plain  is  covered  with  luxuriant  gardens.  Beyond 
them  the  mountains  rise  rapidly,  overtopped  by  the 
snow-clad  summits  of  the  Sunnin  and  Keneiseh  and 
furrowed  by  several  deep  ravines,  but  cultivated  to  a 

133 


1:34      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

considerable  height.  The  rosy  tints  of  the  mountains 
contrasting  with  the  deep  blue  of  the  sea  present  a 
most  picturesque  scene  as  the  sun,  falling  into  the  sea, 
casts  its  last  beam  upon  the  Lebanon  range. 

The  inhabitants  of  Beirut  are  Mohammedans,  Or- 
thodox Greeks,  Maronites,  Greek  Catholics,  Jews, 
Latins,  Protestants,  Syrian  Catholics,  Armenians, 
Armenian  Catholics,  Druses,  Europeans,  and  Ameri- 
cans. The  Mohammedan  element  is  gradually  being 
displaced  by  the  Christians,  who  are  industrious  and 
seem  to  share  the  commercial  enterprise  of  the  ancient 
Phoenicians.  Many  of  the  firms  have  branches  in 
France,  England,  and  America.  The  bazaar  is  not 
especially  attractive  to  one  who  has  been  in  Constan- 
tinople or  Cairo,  European  influence  having  deprived 
it  of  many  of  its  Oriental  characteristics.  Near  the 
bazaar  is  the  chief  mosque  of  the  city,  which  was  origi- 
nally a  church  of  St.  John,  of  the  Crusaders'  period ; 
the  walls  have  been  adorned  by  the  Mohammedans 
with  rude  arabesques.  The  roads  in  the  suburbs  and 
environs  of  the  city  are  broad  and  airy,  with  many 
pretty  villas,  affording  charming  views,  with  the  foli- 
age of  orange  and  lemon  trees,  sycamores,  and  palms 
adding  beauty  to  the  picture. 

One  of  the  drives  leads  out  to  Dog  River,  past  the 
ruins  of  a  chapel  of  St.  George,  over  the  spot  where 
the  honored  saint  is  said  to  have  fought  with  the 
dragon.  Dog  River  received  its  name  from  a  gigantic 
stone   dog.  on  a  cliff    in  the  sea.  which  it  was    believed 


EDUCATION    AND    MISSIONS  135 

barked  on  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  An  inscription 
in  Latin  relates  that  the  mountain  pass  was  hewn  out 
of  the  rock  by  order  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  Marcus 
Antonius,  the  conqueror  of  Germany.  Another  in- 
scription in  Arabic  says  that  a  bridge  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  was  built  there  by  the  Sultan  Selim  I,  the 
conqueror  of  Syria.  Other  inscriptions  in  Egyptian, 
Assyrian,  and  Latin  record  invasions  and  expeditions, 
some  of  them  running  back  to  the  pre-Christian  era. 

To  those  especially  interested  in  education  or  mis- 
sions, Beirut  and  Tripoli  and  Sidon  and  Zahleh,  in  the 
Lebanon,  offer  fruitful  fields  for  observation  and  study. 
Missionaries  of  the  American  Board  started  work  in 
Palestine  in  1820.  Owing  to  the  state  of  the  land 
and  interruptions  from  wars,  pestilence,  and  massacres, 
growth  was  slow  at  first,  and  the  main  work  was  con- 
fined to  Syria.  In  1870  the  Mission  was  transferred 
to  the  care  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  story  of  the  efforts  of 
the  missionaries  to  acquire  a  difficult  language,  win  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  produce  an  acceptable  lit- 
erature, make  and  distribute  a  new  translation  of  the 
Bible,  to  secure  religious  liberty  and  plant  churches 
and  schools,  and  at  the  same  time  train  an  efficient 
consecrated  band  of  native  workers,  is  told  in  many 
volumes. 

The  methods  of  work  are  four:  Evangelistic,  educa- 
tional, publication  and  medical.  Outdoor  preaching 
is  restricted  by  law  and  the  customs  of  the  land,  but 


136      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

in  churches,  schools  and  private  houses,  or  about  the 
tents  of  missionaries  when  touring,  good  audiences  can 
be  secured.  The  people  are  usually  friendly,  and  there 
is  more  indifference  than  hostility.  There  are  thirty- 
four  churches  and  ninety-seven  preaching-places  main- 
tained by  the  Mission,  with  2,800  church  members, 
averaging  Sabbath  congregations  of  more  than  six 
thousand  persons,  and  eighty-six  Sabbath  Schools  with 
5,800  pupils.  More  than  $60,000  a  year  is  given  by 
the  Syrians  out  of  their  poverty  toward  maintaining 
their  own  churches  and  educating  their  children. 
There  are  at  this  time  in  the  Syrian  Mission  thirteen 
American  clergymen,  one  physician  and  one  layman, 
twenty-six  women  missionaries,  fourteen  Syrian  preach- 
ers and  197  teachers  and  assistants,  and  2,718  com- 
municants. 

Educational  work  is  done  by  the  missionaries  in 
their  day  schools  and  training  schools.  The  Syrian 
Protestant  College  while  independent  in  government 
is  distinctively  a  missionary  college.  Theological  in- 
struction is  given  by  members  of  the  Beirut  station  to 
students  prepared  to  enter  the  ministry  who  are  sent 
from  thi'  various  stations. 

The  Syrian  Mission,  through  its  press  founded  in 
Malta  in  1822  and  moved  to  Beirut  in  1834,  has 
served  all  flic  neighboring  missions,  for  it  has  supplied 
Bibles,  educational  text-books,  religious  reading, 
scientific  works  and  a  standard  literature  in  pure 
Arabic  to  all   using  that  language  from   Morocco  to 


BIBLE    AND   TRACT    AGENCIES        1J3T 

India.  The  importance  of  this  work  cannot  be  fully 
grasped  until  one  realizes  that  the  Arabic  tongue,  in 
its  spoken  and  written  forms,  is  the  religious  language 
of  one-eighth  of  the  human  race.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  the  place  of  the  Arabic  Bible  in  the 
redemption  of  the  Arabic-speaking  world  corresponds 


PLACE    DE    CANON,     BEIRUT 

very  much  to  the  place  of  the  Scriptures  in  Greek  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 

While  generous  financial  support  has  been  given  by 
the  British  and  American  Bible  and  Tract  Societies, 
as  well  as  by  the  Presbyterian  Board,  still  the  work  of 
preparing  fonts  of  type,  of  writing,  translating,  and 
editing  these  books,  has  fallen  on  the  Mission.  What 
years  of  labor  that  implies  can  be  only  inadequately 
known   from   statistics.      In  a  single  year  the  sales  of 


138      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

all  kinds  reached  a  total  of  110.000  volumes.  Nearly 
700  distinct  works  in  Arabic  are  offered  to  the  public 
at  cheap  rates  in  an  acceptable,  beautiful  typography. 
Medical  work,  as  a  pioneer  method  of  removing 
prejudices,  and  as  daily  representing  the  spirit  of  the 
Great  Healer,  is  an  honored  branch  of  activity.  The 
Mission  owns  and  manages  two  hospitals — that  at 
Tripoli,  cared  for  by  Dr.  Ira  Harris;  and  that  at 
Junieh.  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Mary  P.  Eddy. 
These  are  also  centers  of  evangelical  effort  and  preach- 
ing by  means  of  Bible  women,  colporters,  and  Sunday- 
schools.  Both  Dr.  Harris  and  Dr.  Eddy  also  travel 
about,  meeting  thousands  of  sufferers  in  crowded 
clinics.  Property  has  recently  been  purchased  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  at  Junieh  for  a  refuge  and  sana- 
torium for  one  of  the  most  needy  and  pitiable  classes 
of  sufferers  in  Syria — those  afflicted  with  the  various 
forms  of  tuberculosis.  Dr.  Eddy  is  loved,  well-nigh 
worshiped,  by  the  afflicted  people  who  throng  the  hos- 
pital of  this  beloved  woman  physician. 

To  mention  the  names  of  the  prominent  men  who 
have  labored  as  missionaries  in  Beirut  and  the  adja- 
cent stations,  and  whose  influence  first  has  been  as  men, 
and  then  as  preachers,  teachers,  physicians,  translators, 
and,  to  use  the  words  of  Ambassador  Straus,  "  states- 
men,1 '  is  to  call  the  roll  of  many  of  the  ablest  men  in 
the  American  Church  who  have  answered  the  call  of 
the  Master,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.''1      Eli  Smith,  C.  V.  A.  Van 


A    HALF-CENTURY    OF   SERVICE       139 

Dyck,  William  M.  Thomson,  Henry  H.  Jessup  and 
his  brother,  Samuel  Jessup,  George  E.  Post,  James  S. 
Dennis,  D.  Stuart  Dodge,  Daniel  Bliss  and  his  son, 
Howard  S.  Bliss,  all  of  these  and  scores  of  others  have 
been  and  are  men  of  vision,  of  deep  religious  faith, 
high  mental  attainments,  and  indefatigable  energy. 
They  have  been  able  through  their  personal  influence 
to  bring  into  Syria  a  great  deal  of  money,  devoted 
especially  to  education  and  the  publication  of  the 
Bible,  and  of  a  religious  literature  whose  influence  has 
been  felt  wherever  Arabic  is  spoken.  And  what  is 
true  of  the  men  is  no  less  true  of  the  equally  noble 
body  of  women  who  have  toiled  during  the  fourscore 
years  for  the  women  of  Asia. 

In  1856  a  sailing  ship  of  three  hundred  tons 
reached  Asia  Minor,  having  among  its  passengers  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Bliss,  D.D.,  and  Mrs.  Bliss  and  the  Rev. 
Henry  H.  Jessup,  D.D.,  who  for  fifty-four  years 
labored  for  the  people  to  whom  in  their  youth  they  gave 
their  lives  and  their  best  affection.  Dr.  Jessup  passed 
away  in  the  spring  of  1910.  He  had  not  been  well 
during  the  winter  and  had  not  been  able  to  see  many 
people.  Hearing  that  the  writer  was  in  the  harbor,  he 
sent  a  messenger  to  the  ship  with  a  special  invitation 
to  call.  His  wish  was  a  command.  The  call  was  not 
long,  but  it  was  precious. 

Well  on  toward  fourscore  years  of  age,  this  veteran 
of  the  Cross  talked  about  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom 
in  Syria  with  all  the  fervor  of  youth.      He  did  not 


140      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 


intimate  that  the  morning  might  be  dawning  when  he 
should  follow  his  life-long  companion  who  had  laid 
down  her  work  two  or  three  years  previously,  or  his 
beloved  associate,  Dr.  Post,  who  passed  away  the  year 
before.      If  there  was  such  a  feeling  in  his  mind  he  did 

not  refer  to  it ;  not  much 
was  said   by  him   about 
the  past;   it  was  the  fu- 
ture which  lay  close  to 
his  heart ;   the  character 
of  the   men  who  should 
take     up    the    work     as 
others  laid  it  down ;   his 
solicitude     that     they 
should  be  not  only  men 
of  character,  but  men  of 
vision,  men  of  undaunted 
faith  in  their  Lord  and 
Saviour,    and    men    who 
accept  the   Bible   as  the 
inspired    Word   of    God 
without  question  or  with- 
He    said  that   he   failed   to 
understand  why  one  should  wish  to  go  as  a  missionary 
to  the  foreign  field  with  an  emasculated  gospel.      Edu- 
cation, improved  forms  of  living,  and  a  thousand  other 
things  have  their  value,  and    men  who  go  to  a  foreign 
land  avowedly  to  better  the  material  life  of  tin-  people 
should  have  the  prayers  and  good  wishes  and  support 


REV.    DR.    H.    H.    JESSUP 


out    mental  reservation. 


HEART   OF    A    MISSIONARY  141 

of  Christian  people ;  but  the  work  of  the  true  mission- 
ary comprehends  all  of  that  and  more.  He  is  not 
oblivious  to  temporal  conditions  or  the  improvement  cf 
the  surroundings  of  men,  but  in  addition  to  the  physi- 
cal he  has  a  message  distinctively  spiritual  which  the 
other  man  has  not;  and  ''first  things  first11  should  be 
the  rule  for  the  missionary  as  well  as  the  educator  or 
the  physician  or  the  carpenter. 

Thus  we  talked  on,  or  rather  one  talked,  and  the 
other,  as  was  befitting,  sat  by  the  bedside  receiving  for 
himself  and  those  who  may  hear  the  report  of  the 
interview  a  special  blessing.  For  after  all,  if  a  man 
is  better  than  sheep  or  goats  that  "nourish  a  blind  life 
within  the  brain,11  should  they  not  have  more  than 
creature  comforts  extended  to  them?  This  was  the 
burden  of  the  interview  with  Dr.  Jessup — an  interview 
it  is  called  for  courtesy's  sake,  but  it  was  really  the 
heart  expression  of  a  man  who  for  more  than  half  a 
century  had  not  shunned  to  declare  the  whole  counsel 
of  God,  and  who  was  anxious  that  those  who  shepherd 
the  sheep  which  he  had  gathered  should  feed  them  as 
he  had  done ;  who  was  anxious  that  those  who  talk 
with  the  Moslems  in  the  coining  years  shall  not  fail  to 
let  them  know  that  good  as  the  Koran  is,  and  noble  as 
are  its  precepts,  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  taught 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is  better  and  nobler 
in  precept,  and  that  salvation  is  possible  only  through 
Jesus  Christ ;  who  was  anxious  that  the  Saviour  who 
loved  him  and  redeemed  him  and  called  him  into  His 


142      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

blesred  ministry  should  be  the  Saviour  of  the  great 
Moslem  world.  There  was  no  lamentation  about  the 
progress  made  in  the  half-century  gone — there  was  no 
reason  for  any  regret ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  there 
was  no  undue  exultation — there  was  no  reason  for 
that,  as  the  work  speaks  for  itself. 

In  the  charming  home  of  President  Bliss  of  the 
Syrian  Protestant  College  the  other  members  of  the 
party  which  came  from  Boston  in  1856  were  met 
again.  Seldom  has  it  occurred  in  missionary  educa- 
tion that  the  noble  founder  of  a  great  institution  has 
been  succeeded  by  a  gifted  son.  Adjectives  are  select- 
ed carefully  in  describing  these  two  men.  Started  in 
1866  by  Daniel  Bliss,  the  college  has  grown  until  it 
has  now  more  than  eight  hundred  students,  represent- 
ing more  than  a  dozen  religious  faiths  and  as  many 
nationalities.  Building  after  building  has  been  added 
to  the  carefully  laid-out  campus  on  the  brow  of  the 
promontory,  until  it  would  be  impossible  in  Asia  and 
difficult  in  Europe  or  America  to  name  a  more  beauti- 
ful site  or  to  find  a  campus  better  fitted  for  the  needs 
of  such  an  institution.  The  sea  and  the  mountains 
combine  to  add  beauty  to  the  landscape,  and  the  sunset 
glow  which  falls  over  the  city  and  rests  upon  Mount 
Lebanon  can  be  found  only  in  Syria. 

But  it  was  not  the  sunset  of  nature,  entrancing  as 
the  picture  was,  which  claimed  the  attention  of  the 
Americans  that  afternoon.  The  sunset  was  fascina- 
ting, but  in  a  few  moments  it  deepened   into  twilight 


AN   ENTHUSIASTIC    EDUCATOR       143 

and  before  one  was  conscious  of  the  change  it  was 
night.  The  real  beauty  of  the  hour  was  the  scene  in 
the  home  of  the  President,  as,  surrounded  by  his  wife 
and  children,  he  presented  the  travelers  to  his  vener- 
able parents  who  had  the  week  previous  celebrated 
their  fifty-fourth  anniversary  in  the  Holy  Land. 

Not  long  ago,  when  Dr.  Bliss  was  congratulated 
upon  the  success  of  his  work  in  Beirut,  he  modestly 
replied  he  had  not  been  long  enough  in  the  Presi- 
dency to  mar  the  foundation  which  his  honored  father 
had  laid.  The  sentiment  was  beautiful  and  the  ex- 
pression expected  by  those  who  had  known  him  in 
student  days.  Now  that  he  has  been  eight  years  the 
head  of  the  college,  he  has  met  and  settled  problems 
to  which  his  father  was  a  stranger ;  he  has  added 
courses  to  the  curriculum  and  increased  the  teaching 
staff  and  made  the  institution  a  greater  force  in  the 
East  than  it  has  ever  been.  In  this  development  and 
in  the  solution  of  these  problems  he  has  had  the 
co-operation  and  the  counsel  of  the  president  emeritus, 
who  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  is  younger  than  many  men 
of  half  that  age.  The  father  has  never  allowed  his  in- 
terest  in  the  outside  world  to  cease  because  he  was 
engrossed  in  the  great  problem  of  education,  not  alone 
for  the  youth  of  Turkey  but  of  Greece  and  Egypt  and 
Arabia  and  India  and  other  countries.  While  a  mis- 
sionary in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  trying  and  try- 
ing efficiently  to  "disciple  all  nations,"  he  has  not 
been  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  great  world 


144      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

to  the  west  of  the  Mediterranean  as  well  as  to  the 
east  and  south  of  the  Great  Sea. 

Seated  beside  this  Nestor  of  higher  education  in  the 
Orient,  the  writer  shrank  from  starting  a  conversation 
which  might  lead  him  into  Arabic  lore  or  the  mysteries 
of  the  Koran.  It  was  not  necessary  for  him  to  begin 
the  interview.  It  came  to  him  in  a  manner  unexpected 
and  with  the  question  for  which  at  the  moment  he  had 
no  answer.      It  was  this  : 

'"Do  you  think  that  Dr.  Cook  reached  the  Pole?11 
The  first  thought  suggested  to  the  astonished  writer, 
though  it  was  not  framed  in  words,  was : 

"Who  is  Dr.  Cook?11 

The  answer  that  was  given  seemed  to  satisfy  Dr. 
Bliss,  and  soon  we  were  talking,  not  about  the  North 
Pole  nor  Polar  expeditions,  but  about  the  Syrian  Prot- 
estant College  and  its  magnificent  work,  and  about 
''Howard11  as  if  he  were  just  a  man,  a  loving  friend. 
and  not  as  well  the  recognized  leader  of  a  great  educa- 
tional movement. 

Damascus  is  ninety  miles  from  Beirut,  and  is 
reached  by  rail  from  Beirut  and  also  from  Haifa;  the 
former  route  crosses  the  picturesque  Anti-Lebanon 
Mountains  and  the  latter  the  plains  of  Esdraelon,  the 
Jordan  River,  and  skirts  the  southern  end  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee.  Damascus  will  be  connected  with  Mecca  by 
rail  before  long,  and  the  weary  pilgrimage  on  foot  will 
be  replaced  bv  a  railway  journey  more  or  less  weary. 
according  to  the  wealth  of  the  pilgrim. 


SECRET   CHARMS   OF    DAMASCUS      145 

Damascus  is  the  largest  city  in  Syria,  and  it  affords 
the  best  opportunity  of  observing  the  character  of  the 
natives.  The  chief  attractions  are  the  bazaars,  the 
mosques,  the  variety  of  costumes,  the  brisk  and  motley 
traffic  in  the  streets  and  the  environs,  and  the  mission 
and  hospital  work.  The  history  of  the  city  runs  par- 
allel with  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  race  at  least. 
David  captured  it  after  a  bloody  war.  The  foreign 
policy  of  the  northern  kingdom  of  Damascus  was 
almost  exclusively  occupied  with  its  relations  to  Da- 
mascus. 

Nearly  every  visitor  from  the  West  is  impressed  with 
the  secret  charm  about  Damascus  that  baffles  descrip- 
tion. It  is  easy  to  understand  the  story  current  among 
the  people  that  when  Mohammed  saw  the  city  from  the 
heights  he  exclaimed:  "Only  one  Paradise  is  allowed 
to  man,  and  mine  is  fixed  above!1''  Turning  his 
horse's  head  the  prophet  pitched  his  tent  in  the  desert. 
American  travelers  are  not  Mohammedans,  and  they 
make  straight  for  the  best  hotels  which  the  city  affords. 

One  would  not  gather  from  the  narrow  streets  of 
Damascus  that  behind  the  walls  there  were  houses 
which  are  marvels  of  adornment ;  that  fountains  play 
in  marble  basins  while  orange-trees  and  tropical  plants 
add  beauty  and  fragrance  to  the  scene.  No  one  fails 
to  visit  the  great  mosque  in  Damascus  whose  history 
is  read  in  its  various  styles  of  architecture.  On  the 
south  or  west  the  Grecian  or  Roman  style  indicates 
that  the  building  was   at  one  time  a  heathen  temple. 


146      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

For  three  hundred  years  it  was  the  cathedral  church, 
and  for  twelve  centuries  the  Moslems  have  worshiped 
within  its  walls,  in  full  view  of  a  Greek  inscription 
which  testifies  to  the  supremacy  of  the  One  who  spoke 
to  Paul  on  the  Damascus  Road:  "Thy  Kingdom,  O 
Christ,  is  an  everlasting  Kingdom,  and  Thy  domin- 
ion endureth  through  all  generations."  The  "Street 
which  is  called  Straight,1 '  to  which  Ananias  was 
directed  to  go  to  find  Saul  of  Tarsus,  is  still  "Straight 
Street,"  but  there  is  not  much  there  suggesting  the 
visit  of  Paul.  The  house  of  Ananias  and  the  wall 
where  the  apostle  was  let  down  in  a  basket  are  shown 
by  the  guides. 

Like  Athens  of  old,  there  is  much  religion  in  Da- 
mascus, but  not  much  Gospel.  The  city  is  a  hotbed 
of  contending  fanatical  sects.  With  its  population  of 
Mohammedans,  Jews,  and  Greeks,  with  various  sub- 
divisions, including  the  Druses  and  Kurds  and  Maron- 
ites,  it  affords  an  unpromising  field  for  missionary 
operations.  There  is  a  Protestant  church,  whose  mem- 
bers are,  it  is  said,  almost  wholly  from  the  Greek 
Church.  In  educational  and  medical  work,  however, 
there  has  been  considerable  progress.  The  memory  of 
the  terrible  massacre  of  Christians  in  18(50,  begun  in 
the  Lebanon  by  the  Druses  and  carried  on  in  Damas- 
cus by  the  Moslems,  sfill  lias  a  deterrent  effect.  In 
those  days  of  terror  foreign  consulates  were  burned, 
the  Christian  Quarter  of  Damascus  was  destroyed,  and 
six  thousand  Christians  in  the  city  and  eight  thousand 


RELIGION    BUT   NOT    GOSPEL         147 

in  Syria  were  put  to  death.  Finally,  aroused  by  the 
expressed  indignation  of  Europe,  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment attempted  to  interfere  and  stop  the  wholesale 
slaughter,  and  a  French  corps  of  ten  thousand  men 
was  actually  landed  in  Syria ;  Ahmed  Pasha  and  a  few 
ringleaders,  including  several  Jews,  were  arrested  and 
beheaded. 

Baalbec,  a  few  hours'  ride  from  Damascus,  is  beau- 
tiful for  situation  and  abounds  in  picturesque  scenery, 
modified  by  extensive  meadows  and  winding  streams. 
It  is  nearly  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  and  con- 
tains five  thousand  people,  of  whom  one-third  are 
Christians.  The  origin  of  Baalbec  runs  back  far  be- 
yond historical  records.  It  is  thought  by  some  scholars 
that  the  city  existed  before  the  Flood.  One  sugges- 
tion is  that  Baalbec  is  the  Baal  Gad  referred  to  in  the 
Book  of  Joshua;  undoubtedly  it  is  the  sacred  city 
for  worship  of  the  God  of  the  Sun,  and  was  built  at 
first  by  the  Phoenicians.  Subsequently  the  name  was 
changed  to  Heliopolis,  the  City  of  the  Sun,  by  the 
Selucid  kings,  who  reconstructed  the  Temple  on  the 
site  already  used.  Six  of  the  fifty-eight  Corinthian 
columns  remain,  massive  pillars  seventy-five  feet  high 
and  seven  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter.  Near  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Sun  is  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  larger  than 
the  Parthenon  at  Athens,  erected  in  the  second  cen- 
tury. An  inscription  at  the  foot  of  a  statue  when 
translated  into  English  reads : 

"Julia,  be  happy.1' 


CHAPTER     XII 
HIGHER   EDUCATION   IN   TURKEY 

Delightful  task!  to  rear  the  tender  thought, 
To  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot, 
To  pour  the  fresh  instruction  o'er  the  mind, 
To  breath  the  enlivening  spirit,  and  to  fix 
The  generous  purpose  in  the  glowing  breast  ! 

—  Thomson. 

NO  one  can  travel  in  Turkey,  visiting  the  coast  cities 
or  going  into  the  interior,  without  realizing  that 
a  force  is  working  there,  silently  but  powerfully,  which 
is  destined  to  change  the  government,  if  not  the  relig- 
ion, of  the  empire.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
many  Turkish  officials  view  with  suspicion,  and  some 
with  alarm,  the  efforts  of  men  from  a  friendly  country 
to  build  up  in  their  domain  educational  institutions 
whose  students  are  inculcated  with  the  idea  of  liberty 
as  the  term  is  used  in  America.  American  education 
in  Turkey  has  been  from  the  first  in  the  hands  of  mis- 
sionaries. Not  that  every  instructor  to-day  looks  upon 
himself  as  a  missionary,  or  is  regarded  as  such  by  the 
educated  Turks;  but  Robert  College  in  Constantinople. 
the  International  College  in  Smyrna,  the  Syrian  Prot- 
estant College  in  Beirut,  and  similar  institutions  in 
the  interior  of  Turkey  and  in  Egypt,  have  all  sprung 
from  missionary  effort. 

148 


BACKED    BY    AMERICAN    GOLD       149 

It  is  difficult  for  the  Turks  to  distinguish  between 
education  and  missions,  and  for  the  visitor  from  the 
West  the  line  of  separation,  if  there  be  one,  is  not 
easily  discerned.  Missionaries  and  educators  work 
hand  in  hand,  the  former  sending  their  bright  young 
men  to  the  institutions  under  American  control,  and 
the  latter  returning  their  promising  graduates  to  swell 
the  ranks  of  pastors  and  teachers  throughout  the  em- 
pire. The  fact  of  union  between  missionaries  and 
educators  is  seen  in  another  relation.  Now  and  then 
when  there  have  been  delays  on  the  part  of  Turkish 
officials  in  granting  permission  to  enlarge  buildings,  or 
erect  new  ones,  or  to  recognize  the  value  of  diplomas  or 
certificates  granted  to  graduates  of  institutions  whose 
governing  boards  meet  in  Boston  or  New  York,  when 
individual  protests  have  not  availed,  the  college  officer 
and  the  missionary  have  combined  forces,  and  some- 
times carried  their  case  to  Washington,  occasionally 
making  it  a  subject  of  diplomatic  inquiry. 

The  authorities  of  the  American  institutions  are  de- 
veloping their  work,  enlarging  their  grounds,  adding 
building  to  building,  increasing  their  teaching  corps 
and  doubling  and  trebling  their  student  bodies.  The 
educational  institutions  along  the  Syrian  coast,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Bosphorus;  in  the  interior  of  Turkey  and 
on  the  Nile,  backed  as  they  are  by  influential  men  and 
women  in  America,  are  exerting  the  most  potent  in- 
fluences in  the  Levant.  Millions  of  dollars  are  in- 
vested in  Cairo,  Beirut,  Smyrna,  Constantinople,  Har- 


150      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

poot,  and  other  cities,  and  thousands  of  Egyptians, 
Syrians,  Bulgarians,  Armenians,  Arabians  and  Indians 
and  men  from  other  lands  are  learning  in  these  Amer- 
ican colleges  arithmetic  and  grammar  and  civil  govern- 
ment and  also  the  dynamic  statement  from  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  :  ' '  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self- 
evident  :  that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable 
rights ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness.11 

The  story  of  the  founding  of  the  colleges  in  Turkey, 
and  especially  of  Robert  College  on  the  Bosphorus, 
reads  like  a  romance  of  the  East ;  their  development  by 
American  missionaries,  with  the  aid  of  money  from  the 
keenest  financiers  in  New  York  and  Boston,  is  far  more 
gratifying  to  most  Americans  than  it  is  satisfying  to 
some  Turks.  Holding  the  American  principle  that  all 
men  have  equal  rights  to  establish  religious  and  edu- 
cational institutions,  it  was  natural  that  the  missionaries 
should  early  demand  the  right  to  start  schools  and  col- 
leges and  hospitals  and  dispensaries  in  which  their 
converts  could  be  educated  and  cared  for  mentally 
and  physically;  the  spiritual  not  to  be  forgotten  in 
the  development  of  the  mind  or  the  treatment  of  the 
body. 

The  statesmen  who  established  and  developed  the 
colleges  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  never  forgot  their  di- 
vine commission  nor  failed  to  remember  their  human 
nationality.      When  a  Russian  Minister  assured  Cyrus 


FOUNDING   OF   ROBERT  COLLEGE    151 

Hamlin,  the  founder  of  Robert  College,  that  his  master, 
"the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias,  would  never  allow  Prot- 
estantism to  set  its  foot  in  Turkey,"  Dr.  Hamlin 
quickly  replied:  "My  Master,  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and 
earth,  will  never  ask  your  master  where  He  shall  set 
His  foot !" 

The  missionary  was  a  true  apostle  sent  of  God.     On 
the    other   hand,  Dr.  Hamlin,  sought    help  from    the 


ROBERT    COLLEGE 


American  Minister  and  from  the  State  Department  in 
Washington  as  well,  when  getting  his  college  start- 
ed. Further,  he  secured  assistance  from  the  English 
Ambassador,  and  finally  he  wearied  the  Turks  by 
his  perpetual  applications  and  institutions  until  the 
Grand  Vizier  became  so  irritated  that  he  said  in  vex- 
ation : 


152      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

''Will  this  Mr.  Hamlin  never  die  and  let  me  alone 
on  this  college  question!'" 

Christopher  R.  Robert,  a  wealthy  man  from  New 
York,  who  visited  Constantinople  toward  the  close  of 
the  Crimean  War,  became  interested  in  Dr.  Hamlin, 
agreed  to  help  him  secure  the  college  which  he  desired, 
and  when  the  Turkish  Government  hesitated  to  grant 
the  missionary  the  necessary  permission,  Mr.  Robert 
wrote :  "We  will  fight  it  to  the  end  !"  and  Dr.  Ham- 
lin echoed  the  sentiment.  When  Mr.  Seward,  the 
Secretary  of  State  in  President  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  threw 
his  powerful  influence  on  the  side  of  the  missionary,  the 
Turkish  Government  received  a  dispatch  from  its  Min- 
ister in  Washington  to  this  effect:  "Settle  the  Col- 
lege question  lest  it  prove  a  thorny  question.'"  Still 
nothing  came  from  it. 

No  forward  steps  were  taken  in  Constantinople  until 
Admiral  Farragut  entered  the  harbor  on  an  American 
warship.  The  Admiral  was  pressed  into  the  service  of 
the  college  people,  although  he  assured  them  that  he 
was  not  on  a  diplomatic  mission.  At  every  official 
dinner  at  which  he  met  a  pasha,  he  asked  this  question  : 
"Why  cannot  the  American  College  be  built?"  He 
entered  into  no  argument,  but  took  each  answer  as  coi 
red  and  decisive;  the  following  night  he  would  repeal 
the  question,  accept  the  answer  as  satisfactory,  and  ask 
it  again  at  the  next  dinner  which  he  attended.  The 
effect  was  what  one  might  expect  when  such  a  condition 
arose.      The  suspicion  of  the  Turkish  officials  grew  as 


QUESTIONS    BY   THE    ADMIRAL       153 

the  question  was  asked  repeatedly  by  the  distinguished 
Admiral.  Soon  messengers  came  to  Dr.  Hamlin  ask- 
ing what  the  question  meant. 

"Admiral  Farragut  has  come  on  a  mission  which  he 
thoroughly  understands,"  was  the  diplomatic  reply. 
*'He  will  answer  all  questions  concerning  the  purpose 
of  his  visit."  In  a  short  time,  not  a  firman,  but  an 
imperial  irade,  was  given  to  the  missionary,  and  the 
great  institution  of  the  present  day  was  begun,  and  the 
still  greater  one,  made  possible  by  the  will  of  Mr.  John 
Stewart  Kennedy  of  New  York,  was  an  assured  fact. 

Robert  College  has  a  beautiful  site  on  the  bluff  over- 
looking the  Bosphorus  and  the  city.  It  has  an  enrol- 
ment of  454  students,  of  whom  255  are  Greeks,  67 
Bulgarians,  66  Armenians.  33  Turks,  19  Israelites,  and 
one  and  two  each  of  ten  other  nationalities.  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy, who  was  at  his  death  in  1909  president  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College,  left  it  by  far  the 
largest  bequest  which  it  or  any  other  missionary  col- 
lege had  ever  received.  By  means  of  this  gift  several 
needed  buildings,  for  which  President  C.  F.  Gates  has 
been  pleading,  will  be  erected;  the  faculty  will  be  en- 
larged, and  a  bright  era  awaits  the  institution  planted 
by  the  indomitable  faith  and  perseverance  of  the  Amer- 
ican missionary  and  the  American  financier. 

The  Syrian  Protestant  College  in  Beirut  was  begun 
about  the  same  time  as  Robert  College — in  the  early 
sixties.  Dr.  Daniel  Bliss,  still  active  in  its  councils, 
though  President  emeritus,  and  Dr.  William  M.  Thorn- 


154      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

son,  a  brother  missionary,  often  discussed  the  subject 
of  Higher  Education  in  Syria.  In  1862  the  two  mis- 
sionaries named  were  appointed  a  committee  to  raise 
money  for  the  institution.  Dr.  Bliss  came  to  America 
to  speak  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Board, 
and  was  followed  on  the  platform  by  Mr.  William  E. 
Dodge,  who   used  this  remarkable  statement,  showing 


SYRIAN    PROTESTANT    COLLEUE,     BEIRUT 

the  effect  of  the  missionary's  appeal:  "When  our 
young  brother  was  speaking  I  was  so  moved  that  there 
was  not  a  dry  thread  in  my  shirt."1  After  conferring 
with  his  family  Mr.  Dodge  said  to  one  of  his  sons, 
who  is  now  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  College:  "Stuart,  that  seems  to  me  to  be  a  good 
thing;  we  must  look  into  it/1  Mr.  Dodge  became 
treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  his  son  Stuart 
went  to  Beirut  to  teach  in  the  new  institution.  Dr. 
Dodge  has  been  from   the  first  a  constant  adviser  and 


DR.    BLISS    AND    COL.    ROOSEVELT    155 


co-worker  with  Dr.  Bliss  and  other  missionaries  in 
developing  the  institution,  which  has  more  than  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  students  and  one  of  the  finest  college 
sites  in  the  East. 

Dr.  Bliss  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  his 
son,  Dr.  Howard  S.  Bliss,  under  whose  administration 
rapid  progress  has  been 
made.  History  locates 
an  incident  in  Beirut 
which  affects  at  least  two 
continents :  A  generation 
ago  two  American  lads 
rode  a  donkey  at  the 
same  time  through  the 
streets  of  Beirut.  One 
boy  was  the  son  of  a 
traveler  visiting  Syria, 
and  the  other  the  son  of 
the  President  of  the  Col- 
lege in  the  city.  One 
succeeded  his  father  in 
the  presidency  of  the  in- 
stitution,  and  the  other 

became  President  of  the  United  States.  How  much  of 
the  success  of  President  Bliss  and  President  Roosevelt 
has  been  due  to  their  ability  to  conquer  a  Syrian  don- 
key may  never  be  fully  known. 

The  college  has  a  faculty  of  seventy  members,  and 
five  languages  are  taught  here :  Arabic,  Turkish,  Eng- 


REV.    DR.    HOWARD    S.    BLISS 


156      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

lish,  French  and  modern  Greek,  while  a  short  course  in 
Latin  is  offered  in  the  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 
The  language  of  instruction  in  all  departments  is  Eng- 
lish. Turkish,  being  the  official  language  of  the  em- 
pire, occupies  an  increasingly  important  place  in  the 
curriculum  of  the  college. 

The  number  of  students  in  the  college  is  830,  and  of 
these  472  are  in  the  upper  departments.  In  the  student 
body  there  are  174  Protestants,  and  439  belong  to  other 
Christian  sects;  101  are  Moslems.  86  Jews,  25  Druses 
and  5  Behias.  Students  represent  twelve  or  fourteen  re- 
ligions and  nationalities,  coming  from  a  geographical 
area  which  extends  from  the  Ural  Mountains  to  the 
Soudan  and  from  Greece  and  Egypt  to  Persia  and  India. 
There  are  1074  graduates  occupying  positions  of  com- 
manding influence  as  civil  and  military  officers  and 
pharmacists,  physicians  of  military  and  general  hospit- 
als, lawyers,  judges,  teachers,  preachers,  editors,  authors 
and  merchants. 

As  a  result  of  the  granting  of  the  Constitution  in 
1908,  the  Moslem  and  Jewish  students  wished  to  be 
excused  from  chapel  exercises  and  Bible  study.  A 
concession  was  made  for  the  remainder  of  the  year, 
but  the  following  year  the  parents  were  obliged  to  sign 
a  statement  to  the  effect  that  students  should  agree  to 
obey  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  all  regulations,  and  in 
the  event  of  their  inability  to  do  so  they  should  agree 
to  withdraw  from  college  without  disturbance.  The 
purpose  of  the  college,  in   the  opinion  of  the  trustees 


EDUCATION    IN   SMYRNA  157 

and  faculty,  is  to  impart  strength  and  purity  of  per- 
sonal character,  in  the  hope  that  the  students  may  be 
fitted  to  become  leaders  in  a  movement  toward  right- 
eousness in  society.  They  believe  that  this  can  be  ac- 
complished only  through  instruction  in  religion,  and 
therefore  instruction  in  religion  occupies  an  important 
place  in  the  intention  of  the  college.  The  college  is  a 
Christian  institution  and  teaches  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  religion ;  there  is,  however,  no  attempt  what- 
ever to  attack  the  religious  faith  or  worship  of  any  of 
its  students ;  but  conformity  to  the  rules  of  the  college 
regarding  attendance  upon  exercises  of  worship  and  of 
religious  instruction  is  required  of  all. 

The  International  College  in  Smyrna  has  a  student 
body  of  330  and  a  stair"  of  twenty-one  members.  The 
institution  is  Christian  but  not  sectarian.  Its  aim  is 
to  afford  boys  and  young  men  facilities  for  obtaining 
a  practical  education  to  equip  them  for  positions  of 
usefulness  and  responsibility  in  the  commercial,  edu- 
cational and  religious  institutions  of  the  land.  In  carry- 
ing out  the  same  it  is  assumed  by  President  MacLach- 
lan  and  his  faculty  that  character  is  a  first  essential, 
and  that  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  afford 
the  only  sufficient  model  and  inspiration  for  developing 
that  strength  and  purity  of  purpose  which  are  funda- 
mental to  all  true  success.  The  curriculum,  therefore, 
contains,  in  addition  to  the  languages  and  practical 
sciences  usually  included  in  a  collegiate  training,  a 
course  of  Bible  instruction.      In  this  moral  and  relig- 


158     THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

ious  teaching,  which  is  wholly  unsectarian,  the  sole  aim 
is  to  develop  in  the  students  a  strong,  manly,  Christian 
character,  and  to  do  this  without  prejudice  to  the  in- 
terests of  those  Christian  communions  to  which  the 
great  majority  of  the  students  belong.  While  the 
students  are  Greek  Christians,  Armenians  and  Moslems, 
they  are  all  obliged  to  attend  the  religious  services  to 
which  they  are  accustomed  and,  in  addition,  they  are 
all  required  to  attend  a  Sunday  service  in  the  chapel. 

While  there  are  elective  studies,  three  things  are 
compulsory  —  chapel  exercises.  Bible  study,  and  the 
English  language  classes.  The  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  has  a  strong  branch  in  the  college,  in 
which  are  banded  together  those  students  who,  without 
regard  to  creed  or  confession,  acknowledge  the  personal 
claims  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  them  for  obedience  and 
service.  The  Association  also  receives  into  its  mem- 
bership all  students  who  express  an  honest  desire  to 
conform  their  lives  to  the  teaching  and  example  of 
Jesus. 

It  is  interesting  to  walk  through  the  college  build- 
ings and  see  the  wireless  telegraphy  and  Roentgen  ray 
apparatuses,  which  have  been  provided  by  a  friend,  and 
a  complete  equipment  for  regulating  and  signaling 
standard  time,  and  to  know  that  the  railway  and  city 
time  are  governed  by  the  noon  signal  from  the  observa- 
tory, which,  by  the  way,  is  only  partially  equipped  for 
meteorological  requirements.  Every  day  a  bulletin  is 
issued  and  reports  are  sent  to  the  meteorological  offices 


THE  AMERICAN  COLLEGE  FOR  GIRLS    159 

in  London.  Washington,  Cairo,  Larnica  in  Cyprus, 
and  to  the  representatives  of  the  Turkish,  American 
and  British  Governmsnts  in  Smyrna. 

The  American  College  for  Girls  at  Scutari,  on  the 
Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus  in  Constantinople,  holds 
a  strategic  position  of  great  importance  in  the  enter- 
prise of  the  education  of  women.  It  furnishes  advan- 
tages of  an  advanced  course  of  study,  and  draws  its 
pupils  from  various  nationalities  and  from  wealthy  and 
influential  classes.  Under  the  inspiration  of  Miss  Mary 
Mills  Patrick,  the  President,  there  is  ardor  and  industry 
in  the  faculty,  and  the  atmosphere  is  favorable  to 
stimulation  of  the  intellect  and  to  refinement  of  char^ 
acter.  Its  graduates  hold  leading  positions  in  society, 
and  many  are  instructors  of  others.  Its  influence  has 
extended  not  only  over  the  capital  and  large  cities  on 
the  seaboard,  but  into  the  European  provinces  and 
principalities  and  into  Asiatic  towns,  attracting  from 
far  those  who  are  able  to  meet  the  expense,  which  is  of 
necessity  much  greater  than  in  the  interior.  It  has 
better  furnishings  and  offers  a  more  advanced  course  of 
study  to  pupils  of  various  nationalities  than  has  up  to 
the  present  time  been  possible  in  any  other  institution 
for  girls  in  the  empire. 

The  American  Collegiate  Institute  in  Smyrna  had 
its  beginning  in  1875,  when  Miss  Maria  West  taught 
a  class  of  girls  in  a  room  in  her  own  house.  Under 
Miss  Emily  McCallum,  the  present  principal,  there  are 
more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  girls  in  the  five  de- 


160      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

partments — kindergarten,  primary,  intermediate,  col- 
legiate and  normal.  The  graduates  of  the  institute  are 
found  in  many  lands  and  are  doing  a  noble  work  for 
Christ  in  home,  church  and  school.  Sixty  per  cent,  of 
the  graduates  have  become  teachers.  The  board  of 
instruction  has  twenty-two  members,  and  on  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  among  others,  are  the  American  mission- 
aries resident  in  Smyrna. 

There  are  many  other  colleges  in  Turkey  and  Har- 
poot  and  Marsovan  and  Aintab  and  Tarsus,  each  in  its 
own  field  holding  the  place  of  a  Yale  or  an  Oberlin  or 
a  Williams  or  a  Mount  Holyoke.  There  are  also  high 
schools  for  both  sexes  and  theological  institutions,  all 
of  which  are  aiding  missionary  effort.  In  each  of  them 
Christianity  controls  the  teaching  and  the  conduct,  and 
efforts  are  made  to  train  the  students  for  the  active 
duties  of  life. 

In  many  of  the  institutions  in  Turkey  the  influences 
of  the  teaching  seemed  to  an  outsider  to  be  in  sympathy 
with  the  Turkish  Government  and  people;  one  would 
expect  the  students  from  these  schools  to  be  better  citi- 
zens, truer  in  every  relation  of  life,  because  of  their 
education.  In  some  of  the  institutions  there  did  not 
seem  to  be  the  same  effort  to  adapt  the  methods  to  the 
need  of  the  Turks  as  Turks.  The  curriculum  seemed 
a  replica  of  schools  in  New  York  or  Massachusetts. 
Little  attention  seemingly  was  paid  to  the  country  in 
which  the  students  live  or  the  religion  of  the  country 
iu  which  the  schools  are  located. 


CROSS   OR   CRESCENT?  161 

This,  however,  was  not  true  of  the  larger  institutions, 
whose  officials  and  professors,  while  loyal  to  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  do  nothing  to  discredit  the  flag  of  Turkey ; 
and  while  faithful  adherents  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  do 
not  seek  to  have  their  students  forswear  allegiance  to 
the  Crescent  of  Mohammed. 

If  those  who  send  money  to  Turkey  for  Christian 
education  understand  exactly  how  it  is  used,  they  will 
favor  the  method  of  these  educators,  letting  the  non- 
Christian  mind  come  into  close  contact  with  the  Chris- 
tian teachers,  and  sowing  of  the  seed  of  Christianity, 
letting  it  germinate  in  ground  prepared  by  the  mis- 
sionary, believing  that  inspiration  received  in  this  frank 
manner  may  be  better  than  a  confession  of  a  change  of 
heart  which  is  based  neither  upon  thorough  knowledge 
nor  honest  conviction. 


CHAPTER      XIII 
NAZARETH     AND     GALILEE 


Sweet  waters,  whose  serene  and  limpid  wave 

Upheld  the  pulpit  from  which  words  were  said 

To  outlast  time ;  on  whose  banks  feasts  were  spread 
Which  to  the  soul  an  unknown  vigor  gave— 
You  did  obey,  when  storms  began  to  rave, 

The  "  Peace  be  still,"  and  each  foam-crested  head 

Became  like  solid  oak  beneath  that  tread 
Which  bore  embodied  love  and  power  to  save. 

The  mountains  mirror  their  fair  heights  in  thee ; 
Upon  their  slopes  His  blessed  footsteps  trod 

Whom  multitudes  went  to  the  wilds  to  see, 
And  to  be  fed  with  bread  come  down  from  heaven. 
From  thee  went  out  the  Spirit's  mighty  leaven, 

For  here  was  manifest  the  Son  of  God. 

—From  "A  Brief  Pilgrimage  in  the  Holy  Land," 
by  Caroline  Hazard. 

DROPPING  anchor  at  Haifa  in  the  Bay  of  Acre, 
the  first  impressions  of  Palestine  are  gained  by 
looking  at  Haifa  and  Mount  Carmel,  in  front  of  which 
the  city  lies.  Here,  in  the  time  of  the  Crusaders,  the 
fortress  was  well  known,  and  here  it  was  that  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  made  their  last  stand  before 
going  to   Rome   and  later  to    Malta. 

Not  much  time  was  taken  with  inspecting  the  town 
of  12.000  people,  as  Nazareth  was  the  destination  for 
the  carriage  ride  the  first  half-day.  A  prosperous  Ger- 
man colony  was  observed  between  the  city  proper  and 

162 


OVER    HISTORICAL    GROUND  163 

the  mountain,  but  it  was  neither  of  the  colony  nor  the 
town  about  which  we  were  thinking  as  we  crossed  the 
Kishon  and  started  eastward.  We  were  going  through 
the  town,  under  the  brow  of  Carmel,  identified  so 
closely  with  the  history  of  Elijah  and  Ahab  and  Jeze- 
bel and  the  prophets  of  Baal.  We  were  going  over 
the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  Barak  and  Gideon  and 
Saul  and  Josiah  and  the  Maccabees  and  the  Crusaders 
and  Napoleon  and  other  men  of  prominence  had  won 
victories  or  suffered  defeats.  Here  we  saw  the  flowers 
which  have  made  Palestine  famous  the  world  over,  the 
scarlet  anemones,  cyclamen,  larkspurs,  buttercups  and 
daisies,  all  intermingling  with  the  green  grass.  Many 
times  the  carriages  stopped  to  let  a  lover  of  flowers  pick 
a  bouquet  of  the  beautiful  ''lilies  of  the  field,1'  immor- 
talized by  the  Galilean  Peasant  whose  boyhood  home 
we  were  approaching.  His  immortal  words  concerning 
the  birds  and  flowers  of  His  native  province  were  on 
the  lips  of  all  the  travelers  as  they  looked  over  the 
plain  above  which  they  were  rising,  as  the  road  wound 
up  from  the  sea  toward  the  city  where  He  increased  in 
wisdom  and  stature  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man. 
After  a  ride  of  twenty-three  miles  and  a  climb  of 
1,100  feet,  shortly  after  noon  Nazareth  was  reached. 
After  luncheon  the  tourists  started  out  to  see  the  places 
marked  by  the  Church  as  those  associated  with  the  ear- 
ly life  of  Jesus.  The  Cave  of  the  Annunciation,  the 
Kitchen  of  Mary,  the  Carpenter  Shop  of  Joseph,  the 
stone  said  to  have  been  used  as  a  table  by  Jesus  and 


THE    VILLAGE    AND    FOUNTAIN    OK    NAZARETH 


REMARKABLE  VIEW  EROM  THE  HILL      165 

His  apostles,  and  the  Synagogue  in  which  the  great 
Teacher  announced  the  program  of  Christianity  as 
narrated  in  Luke's  Gospel — all  of  this  and  more  was 
shown  by  the  guides  and  was  more  or  less  satisfactory 
to  various  members  of  the  party. 

Nazareth  is  five  or  six  miles  west  of  Mount  Tabor, 
two  miles  up  a  valley  north  of  the  great  plain  of  Jez- 
reel.  Owing  to  its  poor  water-supply,  it  is  thought  by 
students  that  it  has  never  been  a  large  village,  and  but 
for  the  matchless  life  of  Jesus,  who  lived  in  this  village, 
it  would  never  be  visited  by  the  hosts  of  travelers  who 
include  it  as  one  of  the  chief  places  in  the  tours.  As 
Palestine  was  small  among  the  nations  of  the  East  and 
yet  was  of  great  importance  commercially  as  well  as 
politically,  so  Nazareth,  although  in  a  retired  spot  of 
Palestine,  was  in  the  center  of  Roman  worldliness  and 
paganism.  Three  and  a  half  miles  to  the  north  lay 
Sepphoris,  a  place  of  considerable  importance  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  On  the  coast,  near 
Haifa,  was  Ptolemais,  now  Acre,  a  large  Roman  city, 
while  Tiberias,  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  was  another  cen- 
ter of  Roman  worldliness.  It  is  easy  to  understand 
the  designation  of  Nazareth  in  the  midst  of  "Galilee  of 
the  heathen  nations,11  when  one  remembers  its  Roman 
surroundings. 

But  there  are  two  places  visited  by  all  of  the  party 
which  seemed  to  satisfy  every  one.  These  were  the 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin  and  the  outlook  from  the  hill, 
perhaps  five  hundred  feet  above  the  town.     There  is  no 


166      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

record  of  there  having  been  any  other  well  in  the  vil- 
lage, and  it  seems  entirely  probable  that  the  boy  Jesus 
and  His  mother  may  have  gone  to  that  fountain  day 
after  day  with  water- jars,  as  other  children  and  their 
Syrian  mothers  go  to-day,  the  little  boys  taking  hold 
of  their  mothers1  skirts  and  trudging  along  as  if  that 
was  the  chief  object  in  life.  Girls  and  children  and 
women  gather  around  this  fountain  and  discuss,  pre- 
sumably, questions  relating  to  their  families,  and  pos- 
sibly religion,  though  one  not  versed  in  the  Syrian 
language  would  better  not  dogmatize.  It  was  a  happy 
sight,  however,  the  passing  of  the  two  streams  of  women 
and  children,  on  the  one  line  with  empty  water-pots,  and 
on  the  other  pots  filled  to  the  brim  with  never  a  drop 
spilling,  carried  gracefully  on  the  heads  of  the  women. 
Many  of  the  women  were  extremely  pleasing  in  appear- 
ance, and  the  memory  of  one  of  the  Nazareth  women, 
carrying  not  water,  but  a  heavy  box  on  her  head,  will 
long  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  one  of  the 
members  of  the  party. 

Most  of  the  tourists  walked  up  the  hill,  and  a  hard 
pull  it  was  for  some  of  them,  but  the  writer  and  the 
lady  who  calls  him  "John1'  rode  on  horseback.  If 
there  be  a  steeper  place  in  Palestine  than  the  seemingly 
perpendicular  ascent  from  the  fountain  to  the  ruins 
overlooking  Nazareth,  it  has  not  been  seen ;  the  couple 
in  question  will  walk  the  next  time  that  they  climb  the 
hill.  The  horses  were  sure-footed,  but  the  riders  were 
not   overconfident,  as    the   animals  stepped  upon   great 


KINDNESS   OF   A   SYRIAN   WOMAN    167 

rocks  or  walked  through  defiles  made  for  goats  and  not 
for  horses. 

The  Syrian  woman,  touched  by  the  tense  expression 
on  her  American  sister's  face  and  seemingly  forgetful 
of  her  own  heavy  burden,  walked  beside  the  horse,  and 
whenever  a  particularly  dangerous  place  appeared  she 
would  lay  her  bronzed  hand  upon  the  hand  of  her  new 
friend  ;  frequently  she  would  put  her  right  hand  against 
the  stranger's  back  with  a  gentle  pressure  that  was  as 
helpful  as  it  was  reassuring.  It  is  probably  too  much 
to  say  that  she  prevented  an  accident,  but  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  a  very  grateful  heart  beat  more  lov- 
ingly for  the  women  of  Syria  because  of  this  unexpected 
assistance  from  one  of  them  in  a  time  of  real  need.  Be 
it  said  to  the  honor  of  the  Oriental  that  when  her  path 
left  that  of  the  rider's  she  simply  smiled,  and  with  a 
wave  of  the  hand  bade  good-by  to  the  Americans,  and 
did  not  ask  for  "bakshish."  Had  she  done  so,  or 
had  it  been  possible  to  stop  the  horses  at  that  place, 
her  helpful  spirit  would  have  been  rewarded. 

The  hill  is  called  Neby  Sain,  and  rises  sixteen  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea ;  from  it  one  of  the  finest  views 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  presents  itself.  Looking  directly 
in  front  over  the  village  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  rises  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon  with  mountains  closing  in  on  all 
sides.  To  the  west  is  the  Carmel  range  running  from 
the  monastery,  marking  the  place  of  sacrifice  made 
memorable  by  Elijah  and  the  priests  of  Baal  clear  to 
the   Mediterranean,  twenty-five   miles   away.      To   the 


168      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

east  appear  the  mountains  of  Moab  with  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  out  of  sight  but  in  the  chasm  just  west  of  the 
mountains.  Turning  to  the  north,  beyond  the  ruins  of 
Seffurieh,  the  Sepphoris  of  Josephus,  can  be  seen  the 
white  peak  of  Hermon,  with  Safed  to  the  left,  some 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea,  the  city 
which  the  Master  immortalized  as  one  that  ''being  set 
on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid." 

Just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  the  summit  of  the  hill 
above  the  town  was  reached.  The  Mediterranean  and 
also  the  Jordan  Valley  were  visible,  as  well  as  Mount 
Tabor,  Mount  Hermon  and  Mount  Carmel.  Here  one 
could  see  the  Plain  of  Jezreel  and  the  villages  and  towns 
around  it,  as  well  as  the  mountains  and  highlands  of 
Naphtali  and  Bashan.  In  the  village  below,  the  "  his- 
toric' '  places  may  or  may  not  be  real,  but  from  this 
eminence  one  can  see  a  dozen  places  about  which  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  and  one  must  believe  that  He  who 
loved  nature,  and  the  God  of  nature,  must  often  have 
come  to  this  place  and  looked  on  the  mountain  and  the 
plain  and  the  sea,  even  as  we  were  looking  upon  them 
as  the  twilight  settled  upon  the  little  party  of  humble 
believers  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  There  was  no  loud 
talking;  the  men  and  women  in  the  company  were 
thinking  their  own  thoughts,  but  not  expressing  them. 
It  was  their  first  contact  with  the  Holy  Land,  and  they 
were  near  the  place  where  the  carpenter's  Son  grew 
from  childhood  into  manhood ;  from  one  of  the  hills 
in  front  of  them  they  could  see  the  place  where  an  at- 


LITTLE    NAZARETH    CHILDREN        169 

tempt  had  been  made  to  kill  Jesus  before  His  time, 
because  His  message  did  not  appeal  to  those  who  had 
known  Him  as  a  child  and  youth. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  hotel  a  call  was  made  at  the 
Girls'  Orphanage  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
of  England.  The  work  was  begun  in  1867,  and  now 
seventy  orphans  of  Protestant,  Moslem  or  Greek  par- 
entage and  religion  are  fed  and  clothed  and  taught  free 
of  charge,  the  annual  expense  being  $35.  Two  objects 
are  kept  in  mind  by  those  in  charge  of  the  Orphanage : 
one  is  to  teach  the  girls  the  saving  truths  of  the  Gospel 
as  found  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  other  is  to  train  them 
to  be  useful  wives  and  mothers.  In  addition  to  the 
Bible  the  girls  all  learn  housework ;  several  become 
teachers ;  others  go  to  serve  in  European  families ;  and 
others  train  as  nurses  in  mission  hospitals  carried  on  by 
these  societies.  The  majority  leave  the  Orphanage  to 
be  married.  The  children  entertained  the  callers  with 
songs,  and  the  superintendent  and  matron  and  other 
ladies  explained  the  working  of  the  Orphanage  and  re- 
lated many  incidents  showing  the  beneficial  results  of 
the  work.  One  of  the  hymns  which  the  girls  sang, 
"Children  of  Nazareth,"  began  as  follows: 

"We  are  little  Nazareth  children, 
And  our  Father  placed  our  home 
Mid  the  olive-trees  and  vineyards. 
Where  the  Saviour  used  to  roam." 

The  ride  from  Nazareth  to  Tiberias  on  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  carries  one  down  not  only  as  far  as  he  came  up 


170      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

from  the  Mediterranean  to  Nazareth,  but  nearly  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea.  Five 
miles  on  the  direct  road  to  Tiberias  is  the  old  site  of 
Cana  of  Galilee ;  here  it  was  that  Nathanael  lived  ;  here 
Jesus  performed  His  first  miracle,  and  in  this  place  also 
He  healed,  by  a  word,  the  son  of  the  nobleman  from 
Capernaum  who  felt  unworthy  that  Jesus  should  enter 
his  home.  The  road  to  Galilee  is  fairly  good,  but  it 
will  need  another  visit  from  the  German  Emperor  be- 
fore the  roads  through  the  Holy  Land  can  be  called 
really  good. 

Shortly  before  Tiberias  is  reached  a  ridge  at  the  left 
is  pointed  out  as  *'  Kurn  Hattin" — the  Horns  of  Hattin 
— known  also  as  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes,  for  here  or 
in  this  neighborhood  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  re- 
corded  in  Matthew's  Gospel,  was  probably  delivered. 
Not  far  away  to  the  north  is  Safed,  toward  which  Jesus 
may  have  looked  as  he  delivered  his  memorable  sermon. 
The  city  can  be  seen  over  a  wide  area  of  country.  It 
was  at  Hattin,  on  July  5,  1187,  that  the  Crusaders 
met  the  hosts  of  Saladin  and  went  down  in  that  awful 
slaughter. 

As  the  carriages  drive  on  beyond  the  historic  Mount 
of  Blessing  a  magnificent  view  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee 
and  its  surroundings  suddenly  bursts  upon  the  travel- 
ers. In  the  foreground  are  the  steeply  sloping  banks 
leading  down  to  the  Lake.  Beyond  the  sea  rise  the 
irregular  hills,  bare  and  barrel*,  but  "rich  and  varied 
in  tone  and  tint11  as  the  western  sun  lights  upon  them. 


TIBEHIAS    BY   THE   SEA  171 

To  the  north  Hermon  appears  with  its  great  snow  cap, 
and  to  the  south  Mount  Tabor  is  seen,  which  is  associ- 
ated by  many  with  the  scenes  of  the  Transfiguration. 
Again  the  hush  of  nearness  to  holy  places  is  felt  as  the 
carriages  swing  around  the  winding  road  and  dash 
down  the  steep  descent  to  Tiberias.  The  old  walled 
town  of  the  city  makes  a  picturesque  foreground  to  the 
scenery  of  the  Lake  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
ministry  of  Jesus.  Tiberias  was  built  by  Herod  Anti- 
pas  while  Jesus  was  living  in  Nazareth,  and  was  dedi- 
cated by  him  to  the  Emperor  Tiberias.  It  became  the 
chief  city  of  the  Province  of  Galilee,  and  after  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  became  the  seat  of  the  Jews. 
Arabs  and  Turks  and  Crusaders  figure  in  the  succes- 
sive captures  of  the  city. 

The  modern  town  of  Tiberias  contains  about  six 
thousand  people,  half  of  them  Jews.  It  does  not  oc- 
cupy so  large  a  space  as  the  ancient  city.  It  is  partly 
surrounded  by  a  wall  which  was  nearly  destroyed  in 
the  great  earthquake  of  1837,  when  half  the  people  of 
the  town  perished.  Perhaps  a  rainy  day  is  not  the 
best  time  to  judge  the  city's  cleanliness,  and  yet  then, 
if  ever,  a  city  should  be  clean.  Truth  compels  the 
statement  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  more 
filthy  town  than  Tiberias ;  a  word  or  two  might  be  said 
about  the  fleas  there,  but  that  subject  is  not  a  pleasant 
one  for  some  people.  Drinking-water  and  uncooked 
vegetables  and  salads  were  omitted  by  the  travelers,  and 
no  one  suffered  any  ill  effects  from  the  two  days  spent 


172      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

in  Tiberias,  but  no  one  of  the  party  applied  to  join  the 
Scotch  Mission,  which  is  doing  excellent  work  in  edu- 
cational and  medical  departments.  The  pastor  has 
been  there  only  a  short  time,  and  the  organized  church 
work  is  not  extensive,  but  it  promises  to  increase  as  the 
years  go  by.  Progress  by  means  of  conversions  is 
slow,  the  number  of  confessing  Christians  in  the  town, 
it  is  said,  being  less  than  one  hundred.  The  schools  are 
well  patronized,  but  the  children,  when  old  enough  to 
enter  the  church,  or  soon  after  doing  so,  move  to  another 
part  of  the  country  or  leave  the  country  altogether. 
The  Mission  seems  to  be  working  against  terrible  odds, 
but  the  workers  are  not  discouraged,  and  they  feel  that 
the  seed  sown  is  sure  to  bear  fruit,  if  not  in  Tiberias, 
in  some  other  part  of  Turkey,  or  possibly  far-away 
America. 

The  success  of  the  Hospital,  under  the  very  efficient 
care  of  Dr.  David  Watt  Torrance,  is  one  of  which  the 
Scottish  Church  in  particular,  and  Medical  Missions  in 
general,  may  well  be  proud.  In  the  nine  months  that 
the  doctor  was  able  to  stand  the  climate  last  year  there 
were  twenty-two  thousand  attendances,  and  this  in  ad- 
dition to  the  patients  in  the  hospital,  who  come  from 
all  parts  of  Northern  Palestine  as  well  as  from  beyond 
the  Jordan ;  every  patient  cured  or  even  helped  be- 
comes a  missionary  to  spread  the  good  news  of  heal- 
ing throughout  the  countries  from  which  they  come. 
Twelve  operations  in  the  week  before  our  visit  had  been 
performed   successfully;    several   of  these  were   major 


CARING    FOR   THE    BODY  173 

operations,  and  in  these  the  physician  had  been  assisted 
by  his  young  son  who  has  not  yet  had  a  college  train- 
ing. In  a  single  day  the  doctor  treated  a  hundred 
cases  for  affections  of  the  eye.  Surely  no  better  illus- 
tration of  his  being  a  veritable  disciple  of  the  Good 
Physician  could  be  desired.  Poor  as  are  the  patients 
who  come  for  treatment,  Dr.  Torrance  was  able  to  col- 
lect last  year  about  half  the  expenses  of  the  Mission, 
the  balance  coming  from  the  Scotch  Church.  It  was 
a  great  pleasure  to  worship  with  this  little  band  of 
earnest  Presbyterians  on  the  shore  of  the  Lake  and  to 
experience  the  truth  of  the  poet's  dream : 

"O  Sabbath  rest  by  Galilee ! 
O  calm  of  hills  above, 
Where  Jesus  knelt  to  share  with  Thee 
The  silence  of  eternity 
Interpreted  by  love!" 

The  storm  of  Sunday  noon  cleared  the  atmosphere 
and  a  beautiful  sunset  gilded  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
Lake.  This  was  succeeded  by  a  purple  haze  over- 
spreading the  Lake  and  the  country  of  the  Gergesenes. 
an  atmospheric  condition  never  seen  elsewhere  by  the 
writer.  What  was  true  of  the  afterglow  of  the  evening 
was  true  also  of  the  morning  twilight.  An  American 
artist  who  is  painting  a  shore  scene  on  the  Lake  is  at 
work  every  morning  before  sunrise  in  order  to  get  the 
tints  which  she  can  find  nowhere  else. 

Four    merry  boat- loads   with    stalwart   rowers    left 


174      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Tiberias  one  morning  before  sunrise  and  were  rowed  to 
the  northern  end  of  the  Lake  to  the  place  where  Caper- 
naum, the  exalted  city,  nourished.  Nothing  is  left 
there  now  except  the  ruins  of  a  city  which  had  an  op- 
portunity greater  than  that  given  to  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah, an  opportunity  neglected ;  the  result  is  only  a 


TIUERIAS    AND    THE    SEA    OF    GALILEE 


name  and  a  pile  of  stone  recently  brought  to  light  by 
the  followers  of  Him  who  predicted  what  has  taken 
place,  unless  repentance  were  made.  Only  one  man 
was  seen  in  the  town  where  Jesus  lived,  the  town  where 
Peter  had  his  home  and  the  town  where  mighty  works 
were  done,  and  he  was  a  Franciscan  in  charge  of  the 
property.     The    principal  "find"  so  far  is  the  syna- 


CAPERNAUM    AND    BETHSAIDA       175 

gogue,  believed  to  be  the  one  erected  by  the  Roman 
centurion  who  loved  the  Jewish  people  and  erected  a 
place  of  worship  for  them  ;  but  comparatively  little  has 
been  done  toward  uncovering  the  ancient  city. 

A  row  of  twenty  minutes  takes  one  to  the  site  of 
Bethsaida,  but  here  much  less  has  been  found  than  at 
Capernaum  ;  a  broken  aqueduct  is  the  only  thing  worth 
seeing.  There  was  some  question  in  the  minds  of  the 
scholars  in  the  country — doubts  raised  by  much  read- 
ing— as  to  whether  Tel  Hum,  back  of  Bethsaida,  was 
Corajin  or  the  ancient  site  of  Capernaum. 

On  the  way  to  Tiberias  sails  were  set  and  the  boats 
passed  rapidly  the  site  of  Magdala,  the  home  of  Mary, 
out  of  whom  the  devils  were  cast  and  who  followed  the 
Master,  ministering  to  him  of  her  substance.  It  was 
this  Mary  whose  name  has  been  identified  with  insti- 
tutions for  a  class  of  people  wholly  unlike  in  character 
that  gifted  woman,  whose  habits  of  life  were  doubtless 
as  correct  as  those  of  any  other  Mary. 

In  the  little  time  that  the  party  had  been  on  shore 
at  the  northern  end  of  the  Lake  the  color  of  the  water 
had  changed  from  purple  to  blue,  and  before  Tiberias 
was  reached  it  was  a  beautiful  green.  The  boatmen 
sang  their  jolly  songs  led  by  a  precentor;  as  far  as  one 
could  understand  the  men  were  sounding  forth  the 
praises  of  the  crew,  or  this  or  that  member  of  the  crew, 
or  the  firm  by  which  they  were  engaged  or  the  party 
which  they  were  carrying.  Once  in  a  while  when  one 
boat  forged  ahead  of  the  others   slightly,  the  singing 


176      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

did  not  cease,  but  the  tenor  of  the  song  did  not  suggest 
praise  so  much  as  something  else.  It  is  not  best  to  be 
ignorant,  but  travelers  say  that  one  loses  a  great  deal, 
which  he  never  misses,  if  he  does  not  know  the  language 
of  boatmen  and  dragomen  in  Eastern  countries. 

The  afternoon  journey  consisted  of  a  boat-ride  from 
Tiberias  to  Samach,  a  station  on  the  railway  from 
Damascus  to  Haifa,  and  the  railway  ride  to  the  Medi- 
terranean coast,  crossing  the  Jordan  and  riding  through 
the  plains  of  Esdraelon  and  Jezreel  and  skirting  the 
northern  shore  of  Mount  Carmel.  A  restful  night  in 
a  German  hotel  in  Haifa  followed  a  strenuous  day,  and 
breakfast  was  taken  the  next  morning  on  the  ship,  which 
steamed  along  the  coast  and  landed  its  passengers  at 
noon  at  Jaffa.  As  the  Galilee  country  was  left  behind 
the  words  of  the  hymn  sung  in  the  Scotch  Church  sang 
themselves  in  many  a  mind : 

"Jesus  calls  us  o'er  the  tumult 
Of  our  life's  wild  restless  sea; 
Day  by  day  His  sweet  voice  soundeth, 
Saying,  'Christian,  follow  me;' 

"As  of  old  apostles  heard  it 
By  the  Galilean  Lake, 
Turned  from  home  and  toil  and  kindred, 
Leaving  all  for  His  dear  sake. 

"Jesus  calls  us;  by  Thy  mercies, 
Saviour,  may  we  hear  Thy  call, 
Give  our  hearts  to  Thy  obedience, 
Serve  and  love  Thee  best  of  all.'" 


CHAPTER     XIV 
JERUSALEM   AND  THE   JORDAN 

There  is  a  green  hill  far  away, 

Without  a  city  wall, 
Where  the  dear  Lord  was  crucified 

Who  died  to  save  us  all. 

Oh,  dearly,  dearly  has  He  loved, 

And  we  must  love  Him  too  ; 
And  trust  in  His  redeeming-  blood, 

And  try  His  works  to  do. 

—Mrs.  C.  F.  Alexander. 

"T  PREFER  not  to  leave  the  ship.*"  said  an  earnest 
A  Christian  worker  from  New  York  not  long  ago,  as 
the  anchor  dropped  outside  the  mighty  rocks  of  Jaffa. 
Her  explanation  was  that  she  was  afraid  contact  with 
present-day  Palestine  would  destroy  her  idea  of  the 
Holy  Land  gained  from  a  study  of  the  Bible.  And  to 
preserve  this  mental  picture  intact  she  remained  on  the 
ship,  while  the  rest  of  the  party  went  to  Jerusalem, 
Bethlehem,  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.  Gordon's  Cal- 
vary, the  Mount  of  Olives,  Bethany,  Jericho  and  the 
Dead  Sea. 

"I  feared  from  what  I  had  heard  that  I  might  be 
disillusioned,  but  on  the  contrary  my  faith  has  been 
deepened  by  my  actually  standing  on  the  ground  made 
sacred  by  the  feet  of  the  blessed  Saviour.'1  The  en- 
thusiastic  speaker  was   a   charming  young   girl   from 

177 


178      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Philadelphia,  who  added  in  a  burst  of  confidence:  ''Do 
you  know  that  when  we  landed  my  blessed  mother 
kneeled  and  kissed  the  very  ground  on  which  He 
walked,  and  I  am  proud  to  say  that  I  fell  on  my  knees 
beside  her  and  did  the  same.  I  am  so  happy  to  have 
had  the  privilege  of  visiting  the  Holy  Land." 

It  is  said  that  Jaffa  is  derived  from  the  word  mean- 
ing beautiful,  and  this  is  a  fitting  term  to  apply  when 
the  sea  is  smooth.  The  sea  was  smooth  when  we  landed 
at  this  port,  which  has  a  written  history  through  ex- 
isting tablets  dating  back  to  the  fifteenth  century 
B.C.  Classical  scholars  claim  that  the  name  is  derived 
from  Iopa,  the  daughter  of  /Eolus.  Jaffa  being  the  re- 
puted scene  of  the  legend  of  Andromeda.  It  is  said 
that  in  Pliny's  time  the  chains  were  still  shown  with 
which  she  was  bound  to  the  rock  for  the  cruel  mon- 
ster afterward  slain  by  Perseus.  Where  we  landed  so 
peacefully  the  cedar  and  the  pine  wood  sent  to  Solo- 
mon by  Hiram.  King  of  Tyre,  had  come  in  floats  by 
sea  for  the  building  of  the  Temple,  and  again  other 
material  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  under  Zerub- 
babel  was  brought  from  Lebanon  to  Jaffa  as  recorded 
by  Ezra.  Here  also  Jonah  shipped  for  Tarshish.  or 
Cadi/,  and  here  Peter  raised  Dorcas  to  life  and  had 
that  remarkable  vision  from  the  House  of  Simon  the 
T  inner. 

Hv  carriage  it  is  forty  miles  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem. 

it  the  railroad  distance  is  twelve  of  thirteen  miles 
reater.     One  can  drive  to  Jerusalem  in  eight  hours  or 


GOING    UP  TO   JERUSALEM  179 

can  ride  in  a  railway  carriage  in  a  little  less  than  four 
hours ;  this  does  not  mean  that  undue  haste  is  made  by 
carriage.  The  most  impressive  feature  of  the  journey 
as  one  leaves  the  port  is  the  great  number  of  orange- 
groves.  Other  fruits — lemons,  pomegranates,  water- 
melons, etc. — are  found  in  great  abundance,  but  it  is 
pre-eminently  an  orange-growing  section.  An  orange 
was  handed  to  the  writer  which  weighed  twenty-three 
ounces  and  had  a  circumference  of  fifteen  inches.  Fre- 
quently two  or  three  of  these  great  oranges  hang  sus- 
pended by  a  single  stem.  Hedges  of  prickly  cactus  and 
in  some  cases  barbed-wire  fences  separated  the  orange 
groves  or  gardens.  There  are  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Jaffa  more  than  five  hundred  of  these  gardens,  varying 
in  size  from  three  and  four  acres  to  ten  and  twelve  acres 
each ;  about  one  garden  in  five  has  two  wells  each  and 
the  rest  only  one  well  each.  A  flourishing  German 
colony  is  at  the  north  of  the  town  and  is  making  good 
progress  in  helping  to  restore  Palestine  to  its  former 
agricultural  position. 

From  whatever  part  of  Palestine  one  reaches  the 
Holy  City,  he  must  go  up  to  it.  Through  the  Holy 
Land  from  north  to  south  there  runs  a  mountain  ranee, 
and  on  two  of  the  hills,  known  as  Mount  Zion  and 
Mount  Moriah,  the  famous  city  stands  practically 
twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  four  thousand  feet  above  the  Dead  Sea. 
The  former  lies  thirty-two  miles  to  the  west  and  the 
latter  eighteen  miles  to  the  east.     In  every  respect  save 


180      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

one  the  site  is  admirable.  Its  defect  is  its  limited  water- 
supply  ;  cisterns  still  are  numerous,  and  without  them 
the  water-supply  would  be  practically  cut  off.  Were 
it  not  for  its  associations,  Jerusalem  would  not  be  an 
attractive  place  to  visit.  The  barren  condition  of  the 
hills  detracts  greatly  from  the  natural  beauty  of  the 
place.  Cover  the  hills  with  vines  and  replace  the  for- 
ests which  doubtless  crowned  the  hills  at  one  time,  and 
the  change  would  be  tremendous. 

The  old  city,  including  the  area  where  the  Mosque 
of  Omar  stands,  covers  only  about  two  hundred  acres, 
the  size  of  a  New  England  farm.  The  appearance  of 
the  city  is  ancient,  and  properly  so,  for  the  walls  that 
surround  it  doubtless  antedated  the  Christian  era.  but 
some  of  them  look  as  if  they  would  not  remain  in  their 
present  position  much  longer.  The  houses,  like  the 
walls,  especially  those  inside  the  walls,  have  an  ancient 
appearance  also.  The  streets  are  narrow  and  without 
sidewalks.  David  Street,  which  cuts  the  city  from  east 
to  west,  and  Christian  Street,  which  runs  from  David 
Street  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  and  the 
street  leading  from  the  Damascus  Gate  on  the  north  to 
Zion's  Gate  on  the  south,  an-  practically  the  only 
thoroughfares  that  are  worthy  the  name  of  street. 

The  stores  in  Jerusalem  arc  primitive,  but  the  mer- 
chants manage  to  do  a  great  deal  of  business.  Some 
are  not  more  than  ten  feet  wide  and  fifteen  feet  long, 
but  the  merchant  packs  in  them  an  unusually  large 
quantity  of  wares.    Camels  and  donkeys  and  their  drivers 


A   GLIMPSE    OF   THE    HOLY    CITY     181 

are  in  the  streets  with  their  own  peculiar  method. 
While  the  railroads  are  cutting  up  the  Holy  Land  and 
Egypt,  it  will  be  some  time  before  the  conservatism  of 
the  people  will  do  away  with  the  camel  trains  which  go 
alone  the  old  road  from  Damascus  to  Jerusalem  and  on 


DAVID    STREET,     JERUSALEM 

to  Egypt.  It  is  easy  to  refer  with  a  sneer  to  the  don- 
key as  "the  Jerusalem  nightingale,'1  or  to  speak  of  the 
camel  as  an  American  lady  is  reported  to  have  done : 
"I  don't  like  to  criticise  the  Creator,  but  it  does  seem 
to  me  that  I  could  have  attached  the  hind  legs  to  their 
bodies  so  as  to  make  just  as  useful  and  much  more 
graceful  creatures.     And  I  could  improve  the  hanging 


182      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

of  their  lower  lips. ' '  But  regardless  of  criticism,  the 
donkey  and  the  camel  are  still  the  popular  animals  of 
the  Orient,  and  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  the  rail- 
road train  and  the  automobile  displace  them. 

Outside  the  city  walls  is  the  new  Jerusalem,  not  the 
one  of  which  John   speaks   in  the  Apocalypse,  but  the 


RUSSIAN    IMUMUMS 


one  which  is  restoring  Jerusalem  to  its  former  popula- 
tion, if  not  its  old-time  importance.  While  the  old 
city  is  unclean  and  lacks  fresh  air,  in  the  new  city  the 
air  is  pure.  Around  the  houses,  which  are  new,  are 
gardens  and  small  vineyards.  Here  also  are  found  the 
Jewish  colonies  whose  founders  have  a  pride  in  their 
settlement.  Not  far  from  the  Pool  of  the  Sultan,  fa- 
cing the    Bethany  road,  is   a  colony  started  by  a  fund 


EDUCATION  WITHOUT  A  PURPOSE   183 

raised  by  Sir  Moses  Montefiore.  Committees  in  Jeru- 
salem and  London  working  together  built  the  houses 
and  sold  them  to  families  who  are  considered  worthy. 
The  Greek  Church  has  built  hospices  for  its  pilgrims 
who  throng  the  Holy  City  at  Easter-time.  Protestant 
work  is  confined  largely  to  the  services  held  by  the 
Church  of  England  and  the  German  Church,  whose 
new  edifice  was  opened  by  Emperor  William,  while 
the  Christian  Alliance  of  New  York  and  the  Friends 
carry  on  missions  in  and  about  the  city.  Schools  and 
hospitals  for  various  classes  are  conducted  by  the 
Protestant  bodies,  and  by  societies  organized  for  the 
purpose,  and  by  a  few  individuals;  a  mission  to  the 
lepers  is  maintained. 

A  danger  not  wholly  Oriental  in  its  tendency  was 
illustrated  in  Jerusalem  by  an  interview  with  two 
young  Jews  who  had  just  finished  what  would  corre- 
spond to  a  high  school  course  in  America. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  your  education?1' 
one  of  the  young  men  was  asked.  To  the  astonishment 
of  the  writer  the  youth  replied : 

"We  are  going  to  leave  Palestine.1' 
"Why  not  stay  here  and  help  your  people?" 
"There  is  nothing  here  for  an  educated  youth  to  do. 
A  few  of  the   young   men  who   pursue   higher  studies 
elsewhere  can  come  back  as  teachers,  but  for  the  most 
of  us  there  is  nothing  to  do  except  to  go  to  America. 
"And  what  will  you  do  when  you  reach  America?" 
"We  have  no   idea.      I   have  a  cousin  in  Brooklyn, 


184      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

and  my  friend  has  a  brother  in  Philadelphia,  and  we 
will  do  something." 

The  impression  produced  by  the  young  men  was  not 
chiefly  that  they  had  no  future  in  their  country,  which 
is  probably  true.  While  they  had  been  trained  away 
from  their  own  people,  they  had  not  gone  far  enough 
in  their  studies  to  be  of  any  real  service  in  solving  the 
problem  of  Palestine.  Their  utter  helplessness  with 
the  outlook  before  them  was  painful.  Their  cry  was 
not,  ''How  can  I  help  my  people  now?1'  but  rather, 
"Now  that  I  have  an  education  I  am  unfitted  for  any- 
thing in  this  country. "  And  the  pity  of  it  all  was 
that  apparently  they  were  right.  They  were  losers  and 
not  gainers,  so  far,  by  what  they  had  received  from  the 
English  school,  and  they  knew  it,  and  they  blamed  the 
Government.  They  had  decided  to  leave  their  land 
and  enter  the  battle  with  educated  youths  of  America ; 
if  they  enter  that  contest  the  issue  for  them  is  still 
problematical. 

But  what  of  the  country  which  they  are  leaving? 
Is  the  fault  with  the  Government,  as  so  many  people 
in  and  out  of  Palestine  charge,  or  is  there  just  ground 
for  criticism  in  the  charge  that  in  Jerusalem,  as  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  and  other  cities  not  under  Turk- 
ish control,  the  aim  of  the  educator  is  to  produce  "fin- 
ished scholars,-"  the  intellectual  rather  than  the  prac- 
tical being  ever  in  the  mind  of  the  educators?  An 
agricultural  school  or  college  would  seem  peculiarly 
fitting  in  Jerusalem. 


DR.    GOTTHEIL   OPTIMISTIC 


185 


Professor  Richard  Gottheil,  of  Columbia  University, 
New  York,  the  director  of  the  American  School  of  Ar- 
chaeology in  Jerusalem,  believes  that  the  time  will  come 
when  Palestine  will  be  in  fact  what  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures say  in  poetry  it  was  at  one  time,  "a  land  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey."      The   professor  admits  that 


A    BAND    OF    LEPERS 


changes  will  have  to  come  before  that  ideal  is  realized, 
but  he  believes  that  they  will  come.  When  a  friend 
suggested  that  there  would  have  to  be  a  change  in  the 
soil  as  well  as  in  the  government,  he  replied  that  ap- 
pearances were  often  deceitful  in  Turkey  as  well  as  in 
America,  and  that  what  appeared  to  be  ordinary  stone 
on  the  hillsides  of  the  Holy  Land  was  really  a  fertilizer 
in  rock  form. 

Professor  Gottheil  has  been  giving  special  attention 


186      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

this  year  to  the  Mohammedan  inscriptions,  and  has 
received  many  courtesies  from  the  Moslems.  Incident- 
ally he  has  been  cataloguing  rare  manuscripts  and 
books  in  the  libraries  and  visiting  various  parts  of  the 
country  to  acquaint  himself  with  present-day  conditions 
in  order  to  help  in  some  way  to  improve  them.  That 
there  is   needed    improvement,   even    he    with   his   op- 


GOOD    SAMARITAN    INN 


timism  is  obliged  to  admit.  Not  long  ago  a  band 
of  men  and  boys  stoned  his  carriage  within  twenty- 
five  miles  of  Jerusalem  when  his  wife  was  riding 
with  him.  While  the  experience  was  mortifying  as 
well  as  dangerous,  Dr.  Gottheil  had  an  excuse  rather 
than  censure  for  their  act.  The  assailants  were  off 
the  beaten  line  of  travel  and  did  not  meet  many 
foreigners;    when   they  had  come  more  in  contact  with 


THE    MOSQUE    OF   OMAR  187 

Europeans  there  would  be  no  danger  of  such  occur- 
rences. 

The  rides  to  Hebron  and  to  Jericho  and  the  Jordan 
Valley  are  full  of  interest  and  attended  with  some  risk, 
but  usually  nothing  of  the  thrill  of  a  possible  adventure 
occurs. 

It  does  not  take  long  to  see  the  places  of  popular 
interest  in  Jerusalem,  but  several  days  can  be  profitably 
occupied  in  studying  those  closely  identified  with  Bible 
history.  While  the  area  of  the  city  is  small,  scenes 
have  been  enacted  there  during  the  last  thirty  centuries 
which  have  changed  the  destinies  of  mankind.  To 
these  acres  of  land  the  leaders  of  the  principal  religions 
of  the  world,  Jewish.  Moslem  and  Christian,  turn  for 
their  inspiration;  toward  these  hilltops  the  majority 
of  the  human  family  to-day  look  with  a  reverence  and 
a  devotion  which  are  given  to  no  other  part  of  the 
earth's  surface ! 

Where  the  Mosque  of  Omar  stands  the  beautiful 
Temple  of  Solomon  was  erected,  and  later  Herod's 
Temple.  Probably  at  some  place  on  this  very  plateau 
Abraham  attempted  to  offer  his  son  Isaac  as  a  sacrifice 
to  God.  The  Mosque  of  Omar  is  considered  by  many 
students  of  architecture  to  be  the  finest  building  in 
Asia.  Professor  Lewis  would  place  it  first  among  the 
buildings  of  the  world.  Beautiful  as  is  the  structure, 
with  its  colored  marble  pillars  and  impressive  dome, 
marble  mosaics,  tasteful  decoration,  stained  glass  win- 
dows and  magnificent  rugs,  the  main  feature  of  interest 


188     THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

is  the  rock,  directly  under  the  dome,  fifty-seven  feet 
long  and  forty-three  broad,  which  marks  the  Altar  of 
Burnt  Offerings. 

Where  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  stands  the 


(  III  K<  II     OK    THE    HOLY    SEITLCIIRR 


Romans  erected  a  temple  to  Venus  about  125  A.D. 
Two  hundred  years  later  Eusebius  wrote  of  the  building 
of  the  church   there    because  it  was   believed  to  be  the 


THE   NEW   CALVARY  189 

place  of  Christ's  burial.  The  first  church  was  dedi- 
cated in  336  A.D.  and  destroyed  in  614<  by  the  Per- 
sians. In  the  eleventh  century  it  was  again  destroyed 
and  rebuilt  and  enlarged  by  the  Crusaders.  In  1808 
the  structure  was  burned,  but  it  was  rebuilt  two  years 
later  at  an  expense  of  three  million  dollars.  It  is  a 
sad  commentary  upon  Christianity  that  Turkish  guards 
hold  the  key  to  this  Christian  edifice,  and  that  one  of 
their  duties  is  to  give  religious  freedom  to  the  Latin, 
Greek,  Armenian,  Syrian,  Coptic  and  Abyssinian 
Christians,  each  sect  having  its  own  shrine  in  the 
building  and  each  regarding  the  other  as  scarcely  less 
obnoxious  than  the  Moslems  who  are  at  once  their 
avowed  opponents  and  their  legal  protectors. 

While  the  Church  bears  the  name  of  the  burial-place 
of  Jesus  and  not  that  of  His  crucifixion,  it  has  long 
been  held  by  the  two  main  branches  of  the  Catholic 
Church  that  it  also  marks  the  site  of  Calvary.  Whether 
or  not  this  be  true  depends  upon  the  age  of  the  city 
wall  to  the  north  of  the  Church.  If  this  wall  antedates 
33  A.D.,  the  Church  cannot  be  on  Calvary,  because 
that  was  outside  the  city.  Experts  on  the  age  of  the 
wall  in  question  are  probably  biased  somewhat  by  their 
religious  creed,  but  the  majority  of  scholars  accept  the 
hill  across  the  road  from  the  wall  and  nearly  opposite 
the  Damascus  Gate  as  the  probable  site  of  the  crucifix- 
ion. Major  Conder  was  the  first  real  authority  to  press 
the  claims  of  this  New  Calvary,  though  Dr.  Selah 
Merrill,  long  the   United   States  Consul  at  Jerusalem, 


190      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

shared  the  honor  with  the  English  explorer.  Their 
views  were  accepted  by  General  Gordon,  of  Chinese  and 
African  fame,  who  in  addresses  and  through  the  press 
argued  in  its  favor.  An  enterprising  photographer 
took  a  view  of  the  hill  and  called  it  "Gordon's  Cal- 
vary," and  Gordon's  Calvary  it  remains  in  spite 
of  its  earlier  advocates.  The  tomb  in  the  Garden 
near  the  New  Calvary  answers  remarkably  well  to 
the  Gospel  story  of  the  tomb  in  which  the  body  of 
Jesus  was  laid  and  from  which  He  rose  the  third 
day. 

It  was  neither  harvest-time  nor  the  Christmas  season 
when  Bethlehem  was  visited,  but  it  was  not  difficult  to 
people  the  plain  toward  the  south,  as  the  carriage 
turned  from  the  Hebron  road  into  the  one  going  to 
Bethlehem,  with  harvesters  and  shepherds.  Here  was 
Ruth  gleaning  in  the  fields  of  Boaz  and  finding  favor 
in  the  eyes  of  her  kinsman,  to  whom  later  she  gave  her 
heart  as  well  as  her  hand,  becoming  in  turn  the  mother 
of  Obed,  the  grandmother  of  Jesse  and  the  great-grand- 
mother of  David.  It  was  a  far  cry  from  Ruth  the 
Moabitess  to  one  of  the  ancestors  of  Jesus,  over  whose 
birth  the  angels  sang  above  the  same  field  where  Ruth 
had  followed  the  reapers. 

"Good  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all 
people."'  was  the  announcement  of  the  angel  as  he  told 
the  wondering  shepherds  of  the  birth  of  Christ  the  Lord 
in  Bethlehem,  and  his  message  was  followed  by  the 
presence  of  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  "praising 


IN  THE  GROTTO  OF  THE  MANGER    191 

God  and  saying,  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  good- will  toward  men.'" 

"There's  a  song  in  the  air; 
There's  a  star  in  the  sky ; 
There's  a  mother's  deep  prayer 
And  a  Baby's  low  cry ; 
And  the  star  rains  its  fire  while  the  beautiful  sing, 
For  the  manger  of  Bethlehem  cradles  a  King.'" 

With  such  thoughts  one  enters  Bethlehem  to  find 
himself  in  an  atmosphere  suggesting  neither  shepherd- 
like simplicity  nor  heavenly  messages.  The  town  has 
about  eight  thousand  people,  all  Christians  practically, 
but  lacking  a  good  deal  of  the  peace  and  good-will 
which  was  predicted  by  the  angelic  choir  as  the  result 
of  the  Saviour's  birth.  It  is  said  by  those  who  know, 
that  the  people  of  Bethlehem  have  always  been  cele- 
brated for  their  ruddy  beauty  and  also  for  their  fierce 
turbulence,  inclined  like  David  to  be  "men  of  war  from 
their  youth;11  the  frequent  religious  disturbances  in 
Jerusalem  are  said  to  be  instigated  and  carried  on  in 
large  part  by  Bethlehemites.  Scripture  has  many  illus- 
trations of  similar  uprisings  from  the  days  of  Saul  to 
the  fortifications  built  by  Rehoboam,  after  the  division 
of  the  Kingdom,  down  to  Chimham,  mentioned  in 
Jeremiah  in  connection  with  Bethlehem  as  the  gather- 
ing-place of  the  warring  faction  which  persisted  in  go- 
ing down  to  Egypt  against  the  advice  of  the  prophet. 

The  principal  building  in   Bethlehem  to-day  is  the 
Church  of  the  Nativity,  with  its  three  contiguous  con- 


192      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

vents  belonging  respectively  to  the  Latin,  Greek  and 
Armenian  Churches.  In  the  Grotto  of  the  Manger  a 
dozen  Americans  with  their  guide  were  learning  the 
meaning  of  this  and  that  picture  and  star.  A  soldier 
with  his  rifle  was  stationed  near,  and  at  a  little  distance 
stood  a  Greek  Christian,  quite  apart  from  the  Ameri- 


CHUKCli    OF    THE    NATIVITVj     BETHLEHEM 


cans  and  near  to  three  large  candles.  A  slight  noise 
took  the  soldier  across  the  room,  and  the  Greek  was 
detained  till  we  had  left  the  Grotto.  Immediately  an- 
other soldier  was  called.  I  went  back  to  the  Grotto, 
but  the  guide  said: 

"He  is  not  of  our  party;   come  along." 

Another   call,  and   a    Franciscan    monk   entered   the 


COMMOTION   IN  THE   GROTTO        193 

Grotto.  In  a  few  minutes  the  Greek  joined  us  and 
explained  the  cause  of  the  commotion.  The  candles 
rest  on  springs  which  rise  as  the  candles  are  consumed ; 
one  of  the  springs  became  released,  and  it  fell  on  the 
arm  of  the  Greek,  and  could  not  be  touched  by  him  or 
the  soldier,  but  only  by  the  Franciscan  who  had  charge 
of  the  candles. 

The  Greek  protested  that  it  was  accidental,  and  he 
had  plenty  of  witnesses  to  prove  his  statement. 

''What  would  have  happened  if  you  had  been  an 
Armenian?1-'  the  Greek  was  asked. 

''I  should  have  been  sent  to  prison  for  desecrating 
the  holy  place  of  the  Catholics. ' ' 

"And  then  what?" 

"Who  can  tell?" 

The  Greek  seemed  to  feel  that  he  had  fallen  among 
Christian  friends,  and  he  clung  to  us  like  a  brother 
beloved  during  our  stay  in  the  church.  Only  once  did 
he  turn  back,  and  that  was  when  the  men  in  a  body 
were  invited  to  see  the  orange-tree  which  grew  in  the 
time  of  Jerome.  It  was  explained  to  the  women  that 
there  was  no  reason  why  they  should  not  see  the  tree 
except  that  they  would  be  obliged  to  pass  through  the 
vestment  room  of  the  monks.  The  tree,  which  con- 
tained many  oranges,  is  so  old  that  the  trunk  has  wasted 
away  until  it  is  little  more  than  a  slab. 

The  Church  of  the  Nativity  is  thought  to  be  the  old- 
est monument  of  Christian  architecture  in  the  world. 
It  is  the  basilica  erected  by  Constantine  in  330  A.  D.. 


194      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

and  it  is  still  a  fine  building,  in  spite  of  its  extreme  age. 
It  contains  four  rows  of  marble  columns  of  the  Corin- 
thian order,  each  of  a  single  stone.  On  some  of  the 
shafts  are  the  crests  of  Crusaders.  A  medieval  font 
bears  the  inscription  that  it  was  given  by  those  '"whose 
names  are  known  to  the  Lord."  The  mosaics  on  the 
wall  date  from  1169  A.D.  The  Chapel,  or  Grotto,  of 
the  Nativity  is  a  cave  in  the  rock,  twenty  feet  below 
the  floor  of  the  choir;  it  is  thirty-three  feet  by  eleven 
feet,  incased  in  Italian  marble  and  decorated  with 
lamps,  figures  of  saints,  embroidery  and  various  other 
ornaments.  On  the  east  side  of  the  Grotto  is  a  recess 
where  a  silver  star  on  the  pavement  indicates  the  spot 
where  the  Christians  of  Bethlehem — and  for  that  mat- 
ter the  greater  part  of  Christendom — believe  the  Sa- 
viour was  born.  Around  the  star  is  the  Latin  inscrip- 
tion:  "Hie  de  Virgine  Maria  Jesus  Christus  Natus 
Est.'1  "Here  of  the  Virgin  Mary  Jesus  Christ  was 
born.1'  Above  this  spot  sixteen  silver  lamps  are  per- 
petually burning ;  of  these  six  belong  to  the  Greeks 
and  five  each  to  the  Latins  and  Armenians.  A  plain 
altar  near  at  hand  is  used  by  the  three  sects  on  their 
special  festival  days. 

With  the  words  of  Phillips  Brooks  in  our  minds  as  a 
prayer,  we  slowly  retraced  our  steps  toward  Jerusalem  : 

"O  holy  Child  of  Bethlehem, 
Descend  to  us,  we  pray ; 
Cast  out  our  sin  and  enter  in, 
Be  born  in  us  to-day. 


IN  THE   GARDEN    OF   SADNESS       195 

We  hear  the  Christmas  angels 
The  great  glad  tidings  tell; 

Oh,  come  to  us,  abide  with  us, 
Our  Lord  Emmanuel!" 

As  one  drives  to  Bethany  and  stops  at  the  Garden  of 


GETHSEMANE    AND    ITS    KEEPER 


Gethsemane   on  the   western   slope   of   Olivet  there  is 
nothing  to  suggest  the  sadness  and  the  loneliness  prece- 


196      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

ding  the  Crucifixion  hour;  and  yet  they  were  there,  and 
the  sleeping  disciples  and  the  base  betrayal.  The  olive- 
trees  date  back  hundreds  of  years,  how  many  no  one 
knows.  The  Garden  itself,  enclosed,  and  cared  for  by 
a  Franciscan  monk,  is  filled  with  flowers,  including 
quantities  of  rosemary,  fit  tokens  of  remembrance. 
While  the  Garden  is  small — the  one  reverenced  by  the 
Latin  Church  and  English-speaking  travelers  as  a  rule 
— there  is  another  one  farther  up  the  hillside  to  which 
Russian  pilgrims  and  other  adherents  of  the  Greek 
Church  wend  their  way,  and  worship  in  the  Chapel  of 
St.  Mary  Magdalene  erected  near  it  by  the  Russian 
Emperor  in  1888  in  honor  of  his  mother.  It  is  thought 
by  many  that  the  two  gardens  were  in  the  time  of  Jesus 
one,  and  that  it  was  the  property  of  a  friend  of  the 
Master  and  a  favorite  place  of  retirement  for  Him. 
Fai-ther  up  the  mountain  still  is  the  Chapel  of  the 
Paternoster,  a  pretty  little  building  erected  where,  tra- 
dition says,  the  Master  taught  the  Prayer  to  His  dis- 
ciples. Around  the  walls  of  an  arcade  built  about  a 
small  garden  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  inscribed  in  thirty- 
two  different  languages.  In  a  near-by  convent  Car- 
melite  sisters  reside  and  care  for  the  chapel.  Dr. 
Edwin  S.  Wallace,  a  former  United  States  Consul,  says 
that  prayer  is  made  by  these  sisters  continually  in  this 
chapel,  and  no  matter  what  hour  of  the  day  or  night 
one  were  to  enter  he  would  see  the  sweet,  holy  face  of 
one  of  these  sisters  as  she  kneels  before  the  altar. 

The  Chapel  of  the  Aseension  and  the  Russian  Church 


ON   THE    MOUNT   OF   OLIVET         197 

with  its  sightly  tower  crown  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
From  the  top  of  the  tower,  or  from  one  of  its  landings, 
one  can  look  through  the  windows  and  get  a  good  view 
of  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  southeast,  with  the  mountains  of 
Moab  stretching  away  in  the  distance.  Here,  as  at  no 
other  point  in   Palestine,  can  one  see  so  many  places 


DAMASCUS  GATE 


identified  with  the  earthly  life  of  the  Master.  If  one 
would  "see  Jesus1 '  let  him  go  to  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
To  the  south  a  half-dozen  miles  lies  Bethlehem,  where 
He  was  born.  To  the  north,  not  in  view  it  is  true,  but 
just  beyond  those  mountain  ranges,  He  increased  in 
wisdom  and  favor  with  God  and  man  as  He  grew  in 
stature  and  years.  To  the  east  of  the  tower,  a  thousand 
feet  below  and  perhaps  fifteen  miles  away,  lies  the 
Jordan   River,  like   a  thread   of  silver,  and  almost  in 


198      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

sight  are  the  Jordan  fords,  where  His  baptism  took 
place  and  where  the  words  of  divine  approval  were 
spoken. 

Here,  in  contemplation,  one  can  understand  the  spirit 
of  the  Galilean  peasant  who,  in  the  forceful  words  of 
Richard  Watson  Gilder,  is  uncertain  whether  Jesus  was 
human  or  divine;  but  whether  manor  God  his  own 
course  is  clear  as  the  poet  pictures  his  mind : 

"If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man — 
And  only  a  man — I  say 
That  of  all  mankind  I  cleave  to  him, 
And  to  him  will  I  cleave  alway. 

"If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  God — 

And  the  only  God — I  swear 
I  will  follow  him  through  heaven  and  hell, 
The  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  air!1' 

Two  miles  away  are  the  ruins  of  the  Bethany  village, 
fragrant  still,  for  the  Christian  believer,  with  the  odor 
of  the  precious  ointment  poured  from  the  throbbing 
heart  of  love.  Here,  also,  is  the  empty  tomb  from  which 
stepped  the  brother  whom  Mary  and  Martha  and  Jesus 
loved.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  toward  the  west, 
is  Gethsemane,  and  yonder,  just  over  the  ravine,  is  the 
city  which  He  loved  and  over  which  He  wept.  And 
once  more,  a  little  farther  toward  the  west,  on  one  or 
the  other  of  two  hills.  He  cried:  "My  God,  my  God. 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?"  Well  does  Mr.  Gilder 
portray  that  scene: 


THE   RISEN    LORD  199 

"Such  anguish!  such  betrayal!      Who  could  paint 
That  tragedy  !   one  human,  piteous  cry — 
'Forsaken1 — and  black  death!      If  he  was  God, 
'Twas  for  an  instant  only,  his  despair ; 
Or  was  he  man,  and  there  is  life  beyond, 
And  soon  or  late  the  good  rewarded  are, 
Then  too  is  recompense. 

"But  was  he  man, 
And  death  ends  all.  then  was  that  tortured  death 
On  Calvary  a  thing  to  make  the  pulse 
Of  memory  quail  and  stop." 

But  one  should  not  leave  the  Holy  City  with  such  a 
picture  in  his  mind,  true  though  it  be.  Let  Mr.  Gilder 
close  the  chapter  with  the  thought  of  a  living,  helpful 
Christ : 

"The  Lord  is  risen  indeed, 
He  is  here  for  your  love,  for  your  need — 
Not  in  the  grave,  nor  the  sky, 
But  here  where  men  live  and  die. 

"Wherever  are  tears  and  sighs, 
Wherever  are  children's  eyes, 
Where  man  calls  man  his  brother, 
And  loves  as  himself  another, 
Christ  lives  !     The  angels  said : 
'Why  seek  ye  the  living  among  the  dead?'  ' 


CHAPTER     XV 
EGYPT      AND      THE      NILE 

Pygmies  are  pygmies  still,  though  perched  on  Alps; 

And  pyramids  are  pyramids  in  vales. 

Each  man  makes  his  own  stature,  builds  himself; 

Virtue  alone  outbids  the  pyramids  ; 

Her  monuments  shall  last  when  Egypt's  fall. 

—Edward  Young  in  "Night  Thoughts." 

/^NE  usually  enters  Egypt  at  Alexandria  or  Port 
^-^  Said.  Colonel  Roosevelt  sailed  from  Naples 
through  the  Suez  Canal  to  East  Africa,  and  after  his 
year  of  hunting  went  down  the  Nile  to  Khartoum 
and  then  to  Cairo  and  Alexandria.  The  approach  to 
Alexandria  from  the  sea  is  not  especially  impressive ; 
there  is  a  long  low  breakwater,  behind  which  appears 
the  dusty  gray  line  of  shore,  and  behind  that  again 
equally  gray  buildings. 

Alexandria,  founded  in  331  B.C.  by  Alexander  the 
Great,  forms  a  lasting  memorial  of  Egyptian  campaign. 
In  69  A.l).  Vespasian  was  proclaimed  emperor  by  the 
Alexandrians.  In  Trajan's  reign  the  Jews  caused  san- 
guinary riots.  Marcus  Aurelius  attended  the  lectures 
of  the  grammarians  in  this  city.  Napoleon  arrived  in 
Alexandria.  July  1.  1798,  hoping  to  destroy  the  British 
trade  in  the  Mediterranean  and  by  occupying  Egypt  to 
neutralize  the  power  of  England   in    India.      The  fol- 

200 


FROM    ALEXANDRIA    TO    CAIRO       201 

lowing  day  Alexandria  was  stormed,  and  on  July  21 
the  Battle  of  the  Pyramids  was  fought  in  which  the 
French  defeated  the  Mamelukes,  but  the  victory  was 
not  long-lived.  The  British  fleet,  commanded  by  Nel- 
son, on  August  1  defeated  the  French  fleet  fifteen  miles 
from  Alexandria,  destroying  thirteen  of  their  seventeen 
vessels.  Alexandria  to-day  is  largely  European.  Its 
fine  streets  and  modern  buildings  suggest  an  English 
town. 

Christianity  early  found  its  way  to  Alexandria.  It 
is  said  that  the  Gospel  was  first  preached  there  by  St. 
Mark.  The  first  great  persecution  fell  with  consider- 
able weight  upon  the  people  of  this  city.  The  decline 
of  Alexandria  became  rapid  in  proportion  as  Cairo,  the 
newly  founded  capital  on  the  Nile,  became  prosperous. 

Cairo  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  south  from 
Alexandria,  and  one  finds  a  new  phase  of  life  on  the 
journey:  Cotton,  clover  and  sorghum  fields  are  seen  on 
both  sides  of  the  road.  Camels  and  donkeys  and  now 
and  then  a  horse  are  seen,  while  the  industrious  natives 
are  busily  engaged  in  the  fields  hard  at  work,  with  the 
water  coming  from  the  irrigation  canals.  The  princi- 
pal towns  passed  on  the  way  are  Damanhur,  with  some 
twenty-two  thousand  inhabitants,  and  Tantah.  with  a 
population  of  sixty  thousand.  At  Tantah  there  are 
large  public  buildings,  churches,  bazaars,  a  prison,  and 
an  extensive  palace  of  the  Khedive.  As  the  train  nears 
Cairo  the  Libyan  Chain  becomes  more  visible  and  the 
Mosque  of  Mohammed  Ali.  with  its  splendid  minarets. 


202      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

appears.  The  scenery  becomes  more  pleasing;  gardens 
and  palaces  come  in  sight.  To  the  left  lies  the  site  of 
the  ruins  of  Heliopolis,  and  soon  the  guard  calls : 

"All  out  for  Cairo!" 

The  origin  of  the  Egyptian  race  has  been  traced  to 
Libya  and  farther  back  to  the  Euphrates.      To-day  the 


SAILING     ON    THE    NILE 


number  of  distinct  elements  in  the  population  of  the 
country  rivals  that  in  America.  They  include  the  Fella- 
heen, the  tillers  or  peasants,  who  are  the  main  strength 
of  the  nation ;  the  Copts,  who  are  engaged  in  trades 
—  watchmakers,  goldsmiths,  embroiderers  —  though 
there  is  a  peasant  class  among  them,  especially  in  Upper 
Egypt;  Bedouins,  the  term  applied  to  the  nomadic 
Arabs,  who,  while  differing  greatly  in  origin  and  Ian- 


THE   GIFT   OF   THE   NILE  203 

guage,  all  profess  Mohammedanism  ;  Arabs,  who  dwell 
in  towns  and  are  shopkeepers,  officials'  servants,  coach- 
men and  donkey-boys ;  Nubians,  who  dwell  for  the  most 
part  between  Assouan  and  the  Fourth  Cataract,  and  are 
physically  inferior  to  the  Egyptians,  though  they  are 
said  to  be  superior  to  them  in  cleanliness  and  honesty ; 
Sudan  Negroes,  most  of  whom  have  been  brought  down 
the  Nile  as  slaves;  Turks,  chiefly  found  in  towns,  as 
Government  officials,  soldiers  and  merchants;  Levan- 
tines and  Syrians,  members  of  various  Mediterranean 
races,  for  the  most  part  professing  the  Latin  form  of 
Christianity  and  usually  speaking  Arabic  and  two  or 
three  European  languages,  employed  as  shopkeepers, 
clerks  in  the  consulates  and  in  the  Government  offices ; 
Armenians  and  Jews,  also  adept  in  learning  languages, 
making  themselves  useful  in  the  Government  service 
and  in  business ;  Europeans,  Greeks,  Italians,  French, 
Austrians,  Germans  and  a  few  Russians,  Belgians, 
Scandinavians  and  Americans.  The  countries  from 
which  they  come  send  consuls  to  represent  their  in- 
terests as  well  as  to  encourage  trade  with  Egypt. 

Egypt  is  peculiarly  the  gift  of  the  Nile ;  no  other 
country  is  so  dependent  upon  a  watercourse  as  is  this 
one.  As  practically  no  rain  falls  in  Egypt,  the  coun- 
try would  cease  to  exist  as  a  fertile  country  were  it 
not  for  the  annual  inundation  of  the  river  which  is 
caused  by  the  heavy  rains  that  fall  from  June  to  Sep- 
tember on  the  Abyssinian  tableland.  The  Nile  begins 
to  rise  at  Khartoum  about  the  middle  of  May  and  at 


204      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Assouan  the  first  of  June,  reaching  its  greatest  height 
early  in  September.  The  rise  is  about  twenty-two  feet 
at  Cairo ;  the  average  rise  is  sixteen  feet.      By  means 


AN    EGYPTIAN    "WOMAN 

of  irrigation  the  supply  of  water  is  led  into  basins,  the 
mud  allowed  to  settle  and  the  water  released  when 
needed. 

The   dam    at    Assouan,  constructed   to   regulate    the 
water-supply  of  the  country,  is  the  largest  structure  of 


WHO    RULES    EGYPT?  205 

the  kind  in  the  world,  damming  the  water  of  the  Nile 
to  a  height  of  eighty-three  feet,  so  that  a  regular  sup- 
ply can  be  furnished  for  the  irrigation  of  the  country 
during  the  time  of  low  water.  By  means  of  this  reser- 
voir upward  of  five  hundred  thousand  acres  have  been 
added  to  the  area  of  land  which  can  be  cultivated.  So 
successful  was  the  dam  which  was  completed  in  1902 
that  the  Egyptian  Government  decided  to  add  twenty- 
three  feet  to  its  height,  increasing  its  capacity  two  and 
a  half  times,  and  adding  nine  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand acres  to  the  arable  district  in  Southern  Egypt. 

The  Khedive  or  King  of  Egypt  is  the  head  of  the 
Government,  and  is  supposed  to  rule  Egypt.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  country  pays  an  annual  tribute  to 
Turkey  of  $3,500,000.  For  nearly  thirty  years  Great 
Britain  has  been  the  real  ruler,  acting  in  an  official 
capacity  as  trustee  for  debts  due  her  and  France,  Ger- 
many, Russia,  Austria.  Italy  and  other  European  coun- 
tries. Whether  England  should  be  in  Egypt  at  all. 
and  if  so  how  long,  is  no  longer  an  academic  question. 
That  she  is  there  and  that  she  will  stay  there  is  much 
more  to  the  point  than  explaining  why  she  is  there,  or 
suggesting  that  she  should  go  away  if  she  is  not  fulfil 
ling  her  mission.  That  she  is  improving  the  condition 
of  the  country  cannot  be  denied ;  that  her  purpose  is 
wholly  philanthropic  is  denied  in  strong  terms  by  many 
Egyptians.  Commerce  has  developed,  laws  are  ad- 
ministered with  justice,  education,  conducted  along 
Western   lines,  has  made  rapid   progress,  and   general 


206      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

financial  improvement  is  admitted.  But  practical  men 
know  that  England  is  in  Egypt  to  insure  payment  upon 
the  bonds  of  the  Suez  Canal,  which  her  people  largely 
own.  Were  there  no  Suez  Canal  cutting  the  country, 
England  would  never  have  had  an  army  in  Egypt. 

It  is  idle  to  talk  about  England  leaving  Egypt. 
With  France  having  a  free  hand  in  Algiers  and  Ger- 
man power  allowed  to  increase  in  Africa,  England  is 
pretty  sure  to  be  let  alone  in  Egypt.  There  is  a  power, 
however,  which  may  cause  England  at  least  anxious 
thought  in  regard  to  her  Egyptian  relations,  and  on 
this  power  the  young  Egyptians  are  depending.  Three 
interviews  which  the  writer  had  in  Cairo  one  day  show 
something  of  the  disturbed  feelings  in  Egypt  and  how 
the  Egyptians  look  at  English  control. 

Discussing  the  shooting  of  Boutros  Pasha  Ghali.  the 
Prime  Minister  of  Egypt,  by  a  young  member  of  the 
Nationalist  Society  in  the  winter  of  1910,  one  of  the 
leading  writers  for  the  press  in  Cairo  said  that  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  murderer;  in  fact  the  young 
man  had  been  a  student  of  his.  but  the  speaker  asserted 
that  he  had  no  sympathy  with  the  criminal. 

"His  motive."  he  explained,  •'undoubtedly  was  to 
aid  his  country,  but  far  more  than  he  knew  he  has 
helped  England  and  hurt  Egypt.  England  could  well 
afford  to  have  several  murders  of  this  kind,  for  then 
she  would  have  the  excuse  which  is  lacking  now  of  usin<>- 
force,  and  in  a  more  pronounced  form  than  she  does 
at  present.      Every  Egyptian  official    murdered  by  an 


TO    EMANCIPATE    EGYPT  207 

Egyptian  hastens  the  day  when  England  will  be  in 
actual  control  of  the  country.  She  is  playing  a  waiting 
game  to-day,  and  may  for  some  time.  She  can  afford 
to  wait  until  by  some  avowed  act  or  series  of  acts  she 
feels  compelled  to  do  in  Egypt  practically  what  Japan 
has  done  in  Korea,  and  the  nations  of  Europe  will  ap- 
prove her  assuming  control  of  a  country  which  cannot 
protect  its  own  officials.  The  only  hope  of  Egypt  is  to 
repress  such  acts  as  the  murder  of  one  of  her  leading 
citizens,  even  though  his  sympathies  are  understood  to 
be  English.11 

A  young  medical  student  was  discussing  the  tragedy 
and  also  lamenting,  as  the  newspaper  writer  had  done, 
the  zeal  of  the  young  man.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
plain  to  see  that  he  did  not  regret  the  act  so  much  as 
the  advantage  which  England  would  take  of  it.  The 
student  believed,  he  said,  that  Egypt  would  come  to 
her  own,  not  by  bloodshed  but  by  education.  When  a 
sufficient  number  of  Egyptian  youths  are  trained  and 
educated  to  manage  their  own  country  as  English 
youths  are  brought  up  to  believe  that  the  destinies  of 
Great  Britain  are  in  their  hands,  the  power  of  govern- 
ing Egypt  will  be  transferred  to  Egyptians,  and  Eng- 
land will  lift  her  hand  gradually  and  finally  withdraw 
from  Egypt,  confident  that  the  lessons  which  she  has 
taught  Egypt  will  be  carried  on  by  those  whom  she  has 
helped  to  train. 

Quite  different  was  the  attitude  of  one  of  the  younger 
Egyptians  met  in  the  bazaar.      He  spoke  English  flu- 


208      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

ently  and  was  a  product  of   English  training,  not  in 
Egypt  alone  but  in  England  as  well. 

"The  Prime  Minister  received  what  he  deserved. 
Any  Egyptian  who  will  side  with  England  must  pay 
the  price  of  his  perfidy.  Any  official  who  is  false  to 
Egypt  will  suffer  as  he  did.  Men  must  not  accept 
office  and  become  traitors  to  their  country.  The  bullet 
has  been  formed  and  the  knife  sharpened  to  kill  Egypt's 
betrayers. ' ' 

"But  the  suggestion  has  been  made  that  in  this 
course  lies  folly ;  that  England  will  avenge  such 
wrongs. ' ' 

"England  knows  how  far  she  can  go  with  safety. " 

"And  if  she  goes  beyond  that  point — P11 

"What  did  the  American  colonists  do  when  endur- 
ance ceased  to  be  a  virtue?  Do  Egyptians  not  love 
liberty  as  well  as  Americans?  Is  there  no  heroism  on 
Mediterranean  shores?  England  will  be  driven  from 
Egypt  as  your  fathers  drove  her  from  America. " 
Do  you  not  forget  our  ancestry  ? ' 1 

"And  do  you  not  forget  our  allies?11 

"And  who  are  they?11 

"The  Mohammedans  in  Turkey,  the  Mohammedans 
in  the  Sudan,  the  Mohammedans  in  India.  It  is  not 
mere  chance  that  Turkey  receives  tribute  from  Egypt, 
and  the  Turks  are  Mohammedans.  Matters  in  the 
Sudan  arc  not  wholly  satisfactory  to  the  people  in  that 
district,  and  the  Sudan  is  Egypt.  Do  you  not  think 
that  England  knows  her  limitations  in  Egypt?     Do  you 


A    HOLY  WAR    SUGGESTED 


209 


think  that  England  desires  to  start  a  Holy  War?  Do 
you  think  she  wishes  to  imperil  her  standing  in  India? 
India    is   more   to    Great    Britain    than    Egypt.      Her 


CLIMBING    THE    PYRAMIDS 


wealth  beyond  the  Red  Sea  is  of  greater  value  than  her 
Suez  Canal  bonds.  She  knows  that,  and  we  know  it 
too.  You  have  seen  what  the  Young  Turks  have  done 
along  the   Bospborus ;   within  a  decade  you  shall  read 


210      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

what  the  Young  Egyptians  have  done  along  the  Nile. 
We  are  not  hurrying  matters — simply  giving  traitors 
an  occasional  warning,  such  as  the  killing  of  the  Prime 
Minister.  In  the  meantime,  in  England  and  France, 
in  Turkey  and  India,  and  in  Japan  and  America,  our 
young  men  are  learning  how  to  strike  effectively  when 
the  time  is  ripe  for  giving  the  blow  which  shall  free 

Egypt." 

Cairo  has  been  styled  by  some  one  "the  diamond 
stud  on  the  handle  of  the  fan  of  the  Delta/1  Situated 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile,  some  dozen  miles  below 
the  point  where  the  stream  divides  into  the  Rosetta  and 
Damietta  arms,  the  city  covers  an  area  of  eleven  square 
miles,  running  east  to  the  barren,  reddish  cliffs  of  the 
Mokattam  Hills,  which  rise  650  feet  in  height  and  form 
the  beginning  of  the  eastern  desert.  The  city  has  ex- 
tended so  much  toward  the  west  in  recent  years  that 
it  has  crossed  the  Nile,  absorbing  Bulak,  which  was 
formerly  a  separate  town,  and  the  Island  of  Gezireh. 
It  is  the  largest  city  in  Africa,  as  well  as  in  the  Arabian 
region.  It  is  the  residence  of  the  Khedive  and  of  the 
ministers  and  principal  authorities.  The  population  is 
between  six  and  seven  hundred  thousand,  including  fifty 
thousand  foreigners,  the  majority  of  whom  are  Greeks 
and  Italians. 

As  one  walks  through  the  streets  of  Cairo  the  first 
impression  is  that  all  the  world  is  represented  there;  as 
a  matter  of  fact  in  the  tourist  season  that  statement  is 
nearly  true.      The  street  scenes  afford  an  inexhaustible 


STREET  SCENES    IN    CAIRO  211 

fund  of  amusement  and  delight,  illustrating  the  whole 
world  of  Oriental  fiction,  and  producing  an  indelible 
impression  on  the  traveler  from  the  West.  This  life, 
peculiar  to  Cairo,  may  be  seen  when  one  is  driving,  but 
to  see  it  at  its  best  or  worst  one  must  go  through  the 
Arabian  or  Coptic  quarters,  where  the  streets  are  so 
narrow  that  there  is  scarcely  room  for  one  carriage  to 
drive,  not  to  speak  of  passing  another,  and  where  the 
balconies  of  the  harems  project  so  far  that  sometimes 
they  seem  to  meet. 

Cairo  is  not  a  good  place  for  a  person  who  has  nerves, 
or  who  thinks  he  has — is  it  a  distinction  without  a 
difference?  No  one  was  killed  in  the  streets  as  far  as 
the  writer  knows  while  he  was  in  the  city,  but  at  least 
a  hundred,  maybe  a  thousand  people,  seemed  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  being  killed  or  driven  insane  as  the  car- 
riages, donkeys  and  camels  twisted  in  and  out  among 
those  on  foot.  Broadway  in  its  busiest  hours  is  quiet 
compared  with  many  of  the  streets  of  Cairo  all  the  time, 
for  in  the  principal  thoroughfares  the  rush-hour  lasts 
all  day,  and  one  literally  takes  his  life  in  his  hands 
unless  he  takes  a  carriage,  and  then  he  is  torn  between 
the  fear  that  he  will  kill  somebody  or  that  his  driver 
will  kill  the  team.  After  a  day  or  two.  however,  the 
strongest  nerves  either  give  way  or  become  dulled,  and 
he  learns  that  the  fearful  blows  that  he  has  heart!  from 
the  driver's  whip  fell  not  upon  the  quivering  flesh  of 
his  beasts,  but  about  a  foot  above  their  backs.  How 
the  Egyptians  escape  being  run  down  he  is  not  able  to 


212      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

decide ;   a   European  or  an  American  would  about  as 
soon  be  run  down  as  to  hear  the  unearthly  shouts  of 
warning  which  are  given  to  prevent  his  being  injured. 
And  when  you  have  added  to  these  noises  others  caused 
by  the  jingling  of  money  at  the  changer's  table  at  every 
corner,  the  rattling  of  the  vessels  of  the  water-carriers, 
the  barking  of  the  dogs,  the  moaning  of  the  camels — 
not  to   speak   of   the   musical   notes  of  the   Egyptian 
nightingale,  as  the   donkeys   are   called — you  have  a 
picture  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  reproduce  elsewhere. 
The  great  official  university  of  Mohammedanism  was 
founded   in   975    and  is  called   University  El-Azhar, 
"The  Splendid."     The  various  compartments  are  used 
by  students  from  different  countries,  one  section  being 
for  those  from  Mecca  and  another  for  blind  students. 
There  are  said  to  be  six  or  seven  thousand  students  with 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  teachers.   The  curriculum 
for  the  younger  students  consists  in  studying  the  Arabic 
language  sufficiently   well  to   learn  the  Koran.      The 
method  of  teaching  consists  principally  in  training  the 
memory,  giving  little  time  or  thought  to  original  work. 
The  bazaars  are  fascinating  beyond  the  power  of  a 
man  to  describe,  especially  in  the  Mouski,  but  even  a 
man   can   appreciate  the   Persian  tea  and  the  Turkish 
Delight  which  are  interspersed  between  sales.     Shawls, 
pillow-covers,  necklaces,  brasses,  canes,   rugs,  embroid- 
eries and — but  one  must  see  the  bazaars  for  himself,  or 
better,  for  herself,  to  understand  the  abundance  which 
it  is  possible  to  procure  while  the  check-book  holds  out. 


IN    FRONT   OF  THE   SPHINX  21:3 

One  afternoon  was  given  to  Old  Cairo  with  its  Coptic 
Church  and  the  oldest  mosque  in  Egypt,  and  a  visit  to 
the  Island  of  Rhoda,  where  it  is  said  Moses  was  found 
among  the  bulrushes.  Now  he  is  found  in  the  upper 
end  of  nearly  every  souvenir  spoon  as  well  as  in  the 
watch-charms  which  the  peripatetic  venders  display — 
you  can  buy  a  Moses  at  almost  any  price,  with  or  with- 
out a  bulrush.  The  Nileometer,  dating  from  716  A.D.. 
is  also  on  this  island.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  well,  six- 
teen feet  square  with  a  column  in  the  center  inscribed 
with  Arabic  measurements,  and  the  height  of  the  river 
is  indicated  on  this  column. 

Why  people  desert  Alexandria  and  go  to  Cairo  at 
once  is  not  simply  to  get  into  the  swirl  of  the  Oriental 
life,  but  to  feel  the  thrill  which  comes  to  one  who  looks 
for  the  first  time  on  the  Pyramids  eight  miles  from  the 
city.  One  may  go  to  the  Pyramids  by  carriage  or  by 
trolley-car — but  one  should  go  both  ways ;  people  who 
are  sentimental  plan  to  have  one  of  the  trips  at  night, 
that  they  may  gaze  at  the  great  burial-places  and  at 
one  another  under  the  spell  of  an  Oriental  moonlight. 
Both  of  our  journeys  were  made  in  the  daytime,  and 
were  especially  enjoyable.  Of  course  we  rode  on  camels 
and  donkeys  and  had  our  photographs  taken,  and  did 
all  that  was  expected  of  mature  and  dignified  travelers. 
Another  morning  was  spent  in  the  museum  with  the 
mummies  and  the  sarcophagi  and  the  jewels  and  the 
household  implements  dating  back  to  the  century  of 
the  Christian  era   and   as   many  more  centuries  before 


214      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

the  Child  Jesus  with  His  parents  came  to  Egypt.     The 
museum  is  not  far  from  the  great  Nile  bridge  and  is  a 


v^= 


THE    SPHINX    AND    THE    PYRAMIDS 

fine  building  in  the  Greco-Roman  style  and  cost  about 
a  million  dollars.  There  is  also  an  Arabian  museum 
well  worthy  of  a  visit. 


MODERN    MISSION    WORK  215 

From  Cairo  one  goes  to  Sakkara,  a  day's  excursion, 
or  up  the  Nile  to  Luxor  or  Assouan,  spending  from 
three  to  eleven  days,  and  visiting  the  ruins  of  Karnak, 
the  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  and  as  many  interesting  places 
along  the  famous  river  as  the  time  at  his  disposal  will 
allow. 

The  Suez  Canal,  connecting  the  Mediterranean  with 
the  Red  Sea,  constructed  1859—1869  by  Ferdinand 
de  Lesseps,  shortens  the  distance  between  London  and 
Bombay  more  than  five  thousand  miles.  It  pays  sixteen 
per  cent,  dividends  upon  the  stock.  In  a  single  month 
last  year  368  vessels  passed  through  the  Canal,  bring- 
ing in  receipts  of  $2,000,000.  One  ship  paid  $35,000 
toll  for  its  passage  of  one  hundred  miles. 

Modern  mission  work  in  Egypt  began  with  the  efforts 
of  the  Moravians  in  1752,  but  it  was  abandoned  thirty 
years  later.  In  1824  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of 
Great  Britain  sent  out  five  missionaries.  The  success 
which  might  have  been  expected  did  not  result,  owing 
to  persecution  and  failure  to  get  additional  workers, 
and  in  1862  the  mission  was  discontinued. 

Before  the  English  banner  was  lowered,  however, 
another  from  America  was  raised,  and  throughout  the 
Nile  Valley  to-day,  from  the  seaboard  to  the  First  Cat- 
aract, and  from  the  First  Cataract  to  the  Sobat  River, 
are  stations  of  the  American  Mission,  which  is  really 
the  Mission  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
North  America.  Representatives  of  this  Mission  landed 
in  Cairo  in  1854.      One  of  them  came  after  ten  years 


£16      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


of  missionary  service  in  Syria,  where  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage had  been  used.  The  organization  of  the  first 
Presbytery  in   1860  marked  the  beginning  of  the  new 


8ETI    I.     IN    THE    MUSEUM    AT    CAIRO 

ecclesiastical  organism,  molded  for  the  time  out  of  for- 
eign material,  but  destined  to  become  erelong  predomi- 
nantly Egyptian  in  its  membership.  Within  ten  years 
every  form  of  missionary  activity — medical  work  ex- 
cepted— had  been  started  that  the  conditions  in  Egypt 


NO  LONGER  ON  THE  DEFENSIVE     217 

called  for — evangelistic,  educational,  colportage,  native 
church,  women's  work,  and  theological  seminary. 

The  American  Mission  in  its  educational  department 
enrolled  a  year  ago  16,771  children,  while  in  all  the 
Government  schools  for  a  year  the  enrolment  was  18,- 
712.  At  the  head  of  the  system  is  the  College  at 
Assiout.  with  700  students.  The  Pressly  Memorial  In- 
stitute and  Luxor  Girls'  School  minister  to  the  higher 
education  of  girls  in  Upper  Egypt,  while  the  Girls1 
School  of  Cairo  is  developing  into  a  Girls'  College  for 
the  elevation  of  womanhood  in  Lower  Egypt.  The 
book  department  works  in  co-operation  with  the  Bible 
Societies  of  America  and  Great  Britain,  selling  tens 
of  thousands  of  Bibles  and  religious  books  every  year. 
Two  strong  and  well-equipped  hospitals  are  found,  one 
at  Assiout  and  the  other  at  Tantah.  In  the  former 
more  than  two  thousand  in-patients  are  cared  for  in 
a  year,  while  twenty  thousand  are  reached  through  a 
clinic.  With  the  opening  of  the  Sudan,  mission  work 
was  started  in  1899,  which  is  carried  on  in  part  by 
money  and  workers  sent  from  the  Church  in  Egypt. 

In  summarizing  the  work  and  growth  of  the  Ameri- 
can Mission  in  Egypt  these  facts  are  given  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  R.  Watson  in  his  volume,  "In  the  Valley  of  the 
Nile."  Its  foreign  missionaries  (excluding  wives) 
number  fifty  workers.  To  these  add  thirty-seven  men 
and  women,  foreign  workers,  laboring  in  colleges, 
schools  or  hospitals.  Forty-six  ordained  native  min- 
isters and  fifteen  licentiates  care  for  the  spiritual  in- 


218      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

terest  of  sixty  organized  congregations  and  a  member- 
ship of  10.000  people;  there  are  567  native  workers. 
Some  twenty  thousand  men  and  women  listen  every 
Sabbath  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel;  14,177  gather 
for  instruction  in  the  Sabbath-schools,  while  the  hos- 
pitals and  clinics  touch  with  the  hand  of  sympathy  and 
healing  some  35,000  people  every  year.  The  harem 
workers  visit  5,220  women,  and  give  them  instruction 
in  their  homes.  Two  facts  may  close  this  summary : 
Fifty-three  per  cent,  of  the  whole  cost  of  the  American 
Mission  in  Egypt  comes  from  the  natives  themselves, 
and  the  ingathering  on  confession  of  faith  in  a  single 
year  amounts  to  904  persons. 

Persecution  has  not  been  lacking  in  Egypt  during 
the  last  half-century,  but  to-day  Christianity  has  won  a 
place  in  the  Nile  country  which,  apparently,  persecu- 
tion cannot  affect.  No  longer  on  the  defensive,  the 
missionaries  held  in  Cairo  in  1906  a  Conference  of 
Workers  among  Moslems,  when  sixty-two  representa- 
tives from  twenty-nine  missionary  societies  in  Europe 
and  America,  together  with  an  equal  number  of  mis- 
sionary visitors,  considered  the  problems  of  Islam,  and 
how  to  attack  those  problems.  No  longer  are  indirect 
methods  approved,  but  to-day  specialized  methods  and 
specialized  agents  are  called  for  direct  attack.  Dr. 
Watson,  in  his  graphic  survey  of  the  missionary  move- 
ment in  Egypt  in  the  volume  just  mentioned,  predicts 
that  "ere  the  present  generation  pass  away  Christ  may 
be  made  known  in  every  city  and  town  and  village  and 
hamlet  of  the  Nile  Valley,  if  the  Church  be  willing.11 


CHAPTER     XVI 
ITALY:    PEOPLE,  ART  AND  RELIGION 


Dear  Italy !  the  sound  of  thy  soft  name 
Soothes  me  with  balm  of  Memory  and  Hope. 
Mine,  for  the  moment,  height  and  sweep  and  slope 
That  once  were  mine.     Supreme  is  still  the  aim 

To  flee  the  cold  and  gray 

Of  our  December  day, 
And  rest  where  the  clear  spirit  burns  with  unconsuming  flame. 

Thou  human-hearted  land,  whose  revels  hold 
Man  in  communion  with  the  antique  days. 
And  summon  him  from  prosy  greed  to  ways 
Where  youth  is  beckoning  to  the  Age  of  Gold  ; 

How  thou  dost  hold  him  near 

And  whisper  in  his  ear 
Of  the  lost  Paradise  that  lies  beyond  the  alluring  haze 

—Robert  Underwood  Johnson. 

•'"1  X  7HEN  you  sit  down  to  write  a  newspaper  story, 
▼  V  take  your  Bible  and  read  carefully  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis.  There  you  will  find  graphic  de- 
scription blended  with  careful  condensation.  In  twenty- 
one  verses  you  can  read  the  history  of  the  Creation  of 
the  World,  given  in  full,  not  a  detail  omitted  nor  a 
needless  word  put  in.  Moses  was  a  model  newspaper 
man.  Why,  Devins,  if  I  were  to  send  you  out  to  report 
such  an  event  you  would  fill  as  many  pages  as  Moses 
did  verses.11 

The  advice  of  the  city  editor,  whose  patience  with  the 
219 


220      THE    CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

young  reporter  was  well-nigh  exhaustless,  is  recalled  as 
he  sits  down  to  write  a  chapter  on  Italy.  Volumes  of 
poetry  have  been  written  upon  the  cities  and  the  people 
of  this  wonderful  country,  running  back  nearly  twenty- 
eight  centuries.  Libraries  are  filled  with  books  rela- 
ting to  the  art  and  the  architecture,  the  painting  and 
the  music,  the  romance  and  the  history  of  the  remark- 
able people  who  have  lived,  or  who  are  now  living,  on 
this  small  promontory  thrust  out  into  the  Mediterra- 
nean. Rome,  Florence,  Venice — for  any  one  of  these 
cities  and  others  ex- President  Eliot  would  have  to  add 
several  feet  to  his  shelf  to  accommodate  the  books 
which  have  been  produced ;  in  a  recent  volume  on 
Florence  the  bibliography  relating  to  that  one  city 
contains  sixty-seven  titles.  Italy  has  been  called  by  a 
recent  author  "The  Magic  Land,'1  and  no  other  term 
seems  quite  so  appropriate  when  one  thinks  of  the 
modern  past  of  Rome,  of  the  period  of  Canova  and 
Thorwaldsen,  of  the  Rome  of  the  Hawthornes  and  the 
Brownings,  of  the  noble  works  of  Michelangelo  and 
the  galleries  of  the  Vatican. 

One  scarcely  needs  in  a  single  chapter  on  Italy  more 
than  to  refer  to  her  primitive  populations,  the  fortunes 
of  their  successors,  the  civil  wars  and  murders  in  royal 
families  which  changed  the  dynasties  of  the  nation. 
the  rise,  decline  and  fall  of  the  Empire  of  Rome,  the 
extension  and  power  of  the  Papal  authority  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tiber,  the  abolition  of  the  temporal  power 
of  the  Pope,  the  erection  of  the  Kingdom  of   Italy,  the 


THE   CITY    OF   FASCINATION  221 

successful  war  against  Austria  led  by  Victor  Emmanuel 
II.,  resulting,  with  Garibaldi's  unrivaled  efforts,  in 
making  a  united  Italy.  The  history  of  Italy  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  beginning  with  the  victory  of  Na- 
poleon at  Marengo  and  ending  with  the  accession  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  III.,  the  present  King  of  Italy,  is  a 
veritable  romance.  In  that  century,  as  in  other  cen- 
turies, the  artist  and  the  warrior  worked  side  by  side, 
each  doing  the  work  appointed  to  his  hand  ;  the  states- 
man and  the  preacher  lived  their  lives  and  made  their 
impressions  and  left  their  records. 

*"God  sends  His  teachers  unto  every  age, 
To  every  clime  and  every  race  of  men, 
With  revelations  fitted  to  their  growth 
And  shape  of  mind  ;  nor  gives  the  realm  of  truth 
Into  the  selfish  rule  of  one  sole  race. 

Naples  has  been  called  the  City  of  Fascination. 
Rome  is  admitted  to  be  stately  and  impressive,  Florence 
all  beauty  and  enchantment,  Genoa  picturesque,  and 
Venice  a  dream  city,  but  Naples  is  simply — fascina- 
ting. Who  that  has  been  there  does  not  sympathize 
with  Thomas  Buchanan  Read,  who  says  in  his  lines  on 
Naples : 

' '  My  soul  to-day 
Is  far  away, 

Sailing  the  Vesuvian  Bay ; 
My  winged  boat, 
A  bird  afloat. 
Swims  round  the  purple  peak  remote." 


222      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

Naples  in  the  Roman  period  was  a  favorite  residence 
of  the  nobles.  The  Emperor  Augustus  lived  there,  and 
on  the  hill  of  Posilipo  Lucullus  had  his  gardens.  Some 
of  his  best  poetry  Virgil  composed  with  the  Bay  of 
Naples  in  the  foreground  and  the  smoking  Vesuvius  in 


BAY    OF    NAPLES    AND    VESUVIUS 


the  distance.  The  out-of-door  life  of  the  Neapolitans 
is  picturesque  and  entertaining.  In  the  Via  Rome,  the 
main  artery  of  the  traffic  of  Naples,  which  presents  a 
busy  scene  at  all  hours,  one  may  find  a  motley  throng, 
especially  in  the  evening  and  after  dark.  The  Villa 
Nationale,  a  fine  public  garden,  was  laid  out  in  1780 
and  is  a  fine  afternoon  and  evening  promenade.  Here 
one  may  see  the  fashionable  world    in   carriages  on  the 


THE    MUSEUM    IN   NAPLES  223 

drive  bordering  upon  the  sea  or  strolling  through  the 
paths  of  La  Villa. 

In  buildings  and  monuments  of  historic  and  artistic 
interest  Naples  cannot  equal  Rome  and  Florence  and 
Venice,  but  the  treasures  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii 
preserved  in  the  Museum  at  Naples  compensate  in  part 
for  this  deficiency.  The  Museum  contains  more  than 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  specimens,  the  great 
majority  of  which  are  Roman  antiquities.  It  includes 
many  important  collections,  several  of  royal  nature, 
and  especially  the  priceless  treasures  excavated  at  Pom- 
peii and  Herculaneum,  which  are  without  rival.  In 
one  wine;  are  busts  of  such  Greeks  and  Romans  as 
iEschinus,  Demosthenes,  Homer  and  Socrates. 

Just  above  the  Museum  the  Via  Salvator  Rosa  ascends 
to  the  hill  of  St.  Elmo,  where  one  may  enter  the  outer 
enclosure  of  the  castle  founded  in  1343  and  now  used 
as  a  military  prison.  Here,  also,  he  can  enter  the  Car- 
thusian Monastery  of  San  Martino,  rebuilt  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  The  view  of  the  city  and  the  bay, 
lying  more  than  seven  hundred  feet  below  the  castle,  is 
superb.  At  the  left  is  Vesuvius,  beautiful  in  its  quiet- 
ness, but  terrible  in  its  activity.  Between  the  volcano 
and  the  bay  are  houses  and  farm  gardens  and  villages, 
as  if  Vesuvius  were  one  hundred  miles  away.  Turning 
slightly  to  the  right,  one's  eyes  fall  on  Pompeii  with 
its  awful  history,  and  Pugliano,  built  over  the  buried 
city  of  Herculaneum. 

Farther  to  the  right  is  Sorrento's  long  point  of  land 


224      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


reaching  out  into  the  sea,  and  behind  it  the  snow-line 
of  the  Apennines,  and  across  the  bay,  at  the  right,  is 
the  Island  of  Capri,  noted  chiefly  for  its   Blue  Grotto, 

and  the  Island  of 
Ischia.  an  island  of 
volcanic  origin,  the 
largest  island  near 
Naples,  with  about 
thirty  thousand  in- 
habitants, most  of 
them  engaged  in 
vine  and  fruit  cul- 
ture and  fishing. 
Near  at  hand  lies 
Posilipo.  and  nearer 
still  the  great  seeth- 
ing city,  with  its 
churches  and  mu- 
seums and  parks  and 
shops — not  forget- 
ting those  where  one 
may  buy  real  coral 
at  any  price  to  suit 
the  customers,  the 
reality  of  the  ar- 
ticle not  depending 
altogether  upon  Hie  amount  charged  for  it,  how- 
ever. 

From  Naples  it  is  a   night  ride  by  ship  or  train  to 


STREET  SCENE  IN  NAPLES 


GREEK,  SARACEN,   AND  NORMAN     225 

Sicily,  the  Garden  of  the  Mediterranean.     Is  it  Goethe 
who  says : 

"Italy  without  Sicily  leaves  no  image  in  the  soul — 
Sicily  is  the  key  to  all"? 

One  may  go  directly  from   Naples  to   Palermo   and 
get  a  view  of  the  scene  of  Greek  colonization,  Saracen 


A    SICILIAN    CART 


dominion  and  Norman  conquest,  and  also  find  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  places  on  earth.  He  may  ride 
through  the  finely  kept  streets,  past  modern  buildings, 
out  to  the  great  Capella  Palatine,  built  in  the  twelfth 
century,  a  fine  specimen  of  Arabic-Norman  style,  filled 
with  mosaics,  and  then  climb  the  hill,  three  or  four 
miles,  to  Monreale,  and  visit  the  Norman   Cathedral 


226      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

and  Cloisters  with  their  beautiful  mosaics  and  richly 
ornamental  columns.  The  Benedictine  Monastery  of 
San  Martino,  founded  by  Gregory  the  Great  in  the  sixth 
century  and  now  used  as  a  reformatory,  may  also  be 
seen.  The  curious  will  also  go  to  the  catacombs,  but 
they  will  not  wish  to  remain  long. 

From  Palermo  one  may  reach  Syracuse  and  Catania 
and  Taormina  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  island  and 
come  to  "Messina  the  Desolate.  *"    With  a  guide,  whose 


MESSINA    BEFORE    THE    EARTHQUAKE 

wife  and  seven  children  and  three  other  relatives  were 
buried  in  a  twinkling  on  December  28,  1908,  beneath 
the  house  in  which  they  slept,  the  ruins  of  the  city  were 
carefully  inspected.  The  effects  of  the  earthquake  and 
the  flames  and  the  mighty  tidal  wave  which  did  their 
threefold  work  of  destruction  are  all  too  apparent  yet. 
It  was  refreshing  to  go  from  the  scene  of  desolation, 
where  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  lives  were  lost, 
to  the  new  Messina,  constructed  for  the  survivors  just 
outside  the  old  city  by  direct  gifts  from  several  Govern- 
ments, and  to  feel  that  the  philanthropy  of  the  world 


MESSINA   THE    DESOLATE 


go* 


had  united  in  a  real  service  of  humanity.  The  build- 
ings in  the  United  States  section  include  a  church,  a 
school,  a  parish  house  and  a  building  for  higher  edu- 
cation.     The  houses  are  only  one  story  high  and  are 


RUINS    OF    MESSINA 


evidently  for  temporary  use,  but  they  are  serving  their 
purpose  well.  The  work  of  the  American  Red  Cross 
relieved  the  immediate  necessities  of  many  thousands 
of  sufferers;  $250,000  was  appropriated  for  an  agri- 
cultural school,  where  orphan  boys  will  be  educated 
under  the  direct  patronage  of  Queen  Elena. 


228      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

From  Naples  it  is  a  ride  of  four  or  five  hours  to  the 
"Eternal  City.11  And  when  the  journey  is  ended, 
Longfellow's  lines  come  to  mind  as  one  realizes  that 
he  is  in  Rome : 

"  'Tisthe  center 
To  which  all  gravitates.      One  finds  no  rest 
Elsewhere  than  here.      There  may  be  other  cities 
That  please  us  for  a  while,  but  Rome  alone 
Completely  satisfies.      It  becomes  to  all 
A  second  native  land  by  predilection, 
And  not  by  accident  or  birth  alone.11 

The  foundation  of  Rome  is  usually  dated  from  B.C. 
754  or  753,  but  historians  believe  that  it  may  properly 


THE    NEW    MESSIN  \ 


claim  greater  antiquity.  Various  rulers  left  their  marks 
in  walls  and  temples  and  prisons  and  aqueducts  and 
streets,  but  it  was  Augustus,  who  spans  the  B.C.  and 
A.  D.  periods,  who  first  entirely  transformed  the  city. 
To  his  reign  of  forty-two  years,  beginning  B.C.  28, 
belong  many  important  buildings,  such  as  the  vestibule 


IN   THE    ETERNAL    CITY 


W() 


of  the  Pantheon,  the  Forum  of  Augustus  and  the  Tem- 
ple of  Mars.  Streets  and  villas  sprang  up  on  the  Es- 
quiline,  one  of  the  Seven  Hills  of  Rome,  which  had 
formerly  been  a  burial-ground.  Augustus  could  well 
boast  that  he  found   Rome  brick  and   left  it  marble. 


THE    APPIAN    WAY,     ROME 

It  was  a  great  pleasure  in  the  Passion  Week  at  Rome 
to  drive  out  along  the  Appian  Way  and  recall  the  story 
of  Paul  as  he  entered  the  city  to  which  he  had  looked 
with  longing  from  his  home  in  Asia.  Christianity, 
which  gained  its  first  convert  in  the  City  of  the  Caesars 
in  the  middle  of  the  first  century,  continued  to  main- 


230      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

tain  itself  against  the  political  forces  arrayed  against 
it  by  a  declining  paganism.  Here,  as  one  enters  the 
Colosseum,  the  lines  of  Heber  come  to  mind : 

"They  met  the  tyrant's  brandished  steel, 
The  lion's  gory  mane; 
They  bowed  their  necks  the  death  to  feel — 
Who  follows  in  their  train?'" 


.  n* 


ST.     PETER  S,     ROME 


The  Church  of  St.  Peter  has  not  only  the  advantage 
of  position,  but  also  in  having  before  it  a  square,  or, 
as  it  is  culled,  the  Piazza  di  San  Pietro,  which  measures 


THE   CHURCH    OF   ST.    PETER         231 

374  by  262  yards.  It  is  enclosed  by  huge  colonnades. 
Three  covered  passages  are  formed  by  284  columns  and 
88  pillars  of  the  Doric  order.  But  now  we  are  within 
the  church  founded  by  the  Emperor  Constantine  at  the 
request  of  Pope  Sylvester  I.  The  original  church  with 
the  centuries  fell  into  disrepair ,  a  new  one  was  pro- 
jected, and  the  present  structure  shows  the  power  of 
Pramante,  Raphael  and  Michelangelo,  the  latter 
strengthened  the  pillars  of  the  dome,  reduced  the  size 
of  the  side  chambers  and  planned  porch  with  columns 
and  a  pediment.  His  great  work  was  the  dome,  a 
marvel  of  lightness  in  spite  of  its  immense  size.  The 
dome,  to  the  top  of  the  cross  on  the  lantern,  is  437  feet 
high,  while  its  diameter  is  stated  to  be  138  feet,  or 
more  than  half  the  width  of  a  city  block  in  Fifth  Ave- 
nue, New  York.  It  is  impossible  to  reproduce  an  idea 
of  the  vastness  of  a  church  whose  interior  area  is  eigh- 
teen thousand  square  yards,  nearly  twice  that  of  St. 
Paul's  in  London. 

The  Vatican  with  its  Sistine  Chapel,  containing  the 
works  of  Michelangelo  and  other  painters,  and  the 
Stanze,  adorned  with  the  magnificent  works  of  Raphael. 
the  halls,  containing  Raphael's  tapestry,  the  picture 
gallery,  the  great  collection  of  antiquities  in  the  various 
museums,  the  library,  containing  250.000  volumes — 
all  of  this  and  more  one  may  see  in  the  day  or  days 
given  to  the  Vatican  quarter. 

Other  days  may  be  devoted  to  the  Colosseum,  the 
largest  theater  and  one  of  the  grandest  structures  in  the 


232      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

world,  completed  by  Titus  in  AD  80,  which  had  seats 
for  more  than  forty  thousand  spectators,  and  in  which 
it  is  said  that  five  thousand  wild  animals  were  killed  in 
the  gladiatorial  combats,  lasting  one  hundred  days, 
when  the  structure  was  opened ,  to  several  forums  of 
Augustus,  Trajan  and  others,  the  Baths  of  Agrippa, 
Caracalla,  Diocletian  and  Trajan;  the  Catacombs, 
which  were  at  first  the  officially  recognized  burial-place 
of  the  Christians,  who  gave  them  the  Greek  name 
meaning  resting-place,  and  the  picture  galleries  and 
the  hundreds  of  Catholic  churches,  many  of  which  are 
well  worthy  of  a  visit.  Nor  must  one  fail  to  see  the 
Scala  Santa  in  St.  John  Lateran,  and  recall  Luther's 
experience  as  he  saw  men,  women  and  children  paying 
their  devotions  on  their  knees,  climbing  the  twenty- 
eight  steps  and  kissing  each  as  they  ascended.  While 
there  are  several  hundred  Roman  Catholic  churches  in 
Rome,  there  is  some  Protestant  work  being  done  by 
English,  Scotch  and  American  bodies,  in  addition  to 
the  strong  Waldensian  Church.  All  of  the  non-Italian 
churches,  except  the  Methodist,  minister  chiefly  to 
English-speaking  tourists  and  residents,  but  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  has  a  strong  work  for  Italians, 
and  because  of  this  fact  it  has  the  special  disapproval 
of  the  Pope  and  the  Vatican  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  a  good  plant  in  Rome  and  is 
doing  excellent  work  for  the  young  Italians. 

Neither  Diocletian  nor  Decian  could  finish  the  work 
which  Nero   began ;     the    gospel   spirit   could   not   be 


THE    GALLERIES   OF    FLORENCE      2ii:3 

quenched  by  the  horrors  of  martyrdom.  In  313  an 
edict  of  Constantine  the  Great  proclaimed  equal  rights 
for  all  religions. 

Florence  is  called  by  the  Italians  "La  Bella.'1  Its 
chief  charm  is  that  it  preserves  to-day,  almost  un- 
changed, the  aspect  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Samuel  Rog- 
ers says : 

"Of  all  the  fairest  cities  of  the  earth, 
None  is  so  fair  as  Florence.     irTis  a  gem 
Of  purest  ray ;   what  a  light  broke  forth 
When  it  emerged  from  darkness!11 

Florence  has  its  galleries  and  museums  and 
churches  and  piazzas  which  can  be  seen  in  a  couple  of 
days,  but  to  which  as  many  months  should  be  given. 
In  fact,  one  can  imagine  no  more  delightful  city  in 
Italy  to  spend  a  vacation,  winter  or  summer,  than  this 
city  on  the  Arno.  For  one  contemplating  such  a  trip 
the  outline  of  five  days  prescribed  in  the  guide-books 
may  be  followed  only  for  suggestions,  and  one  day  for 
each  week  will  be  sufficient,  the  other  five  being  used 
for  reading  Dante,  Browning,  the  Life  of  Savonarola, 
Byron,  "New  Italy,11  "Italian  Days  and  Ways,11 
"Italian  Highways  and  Byways,11  and,  if  possible,  the 
series  of  charming  letters  written  for  The  New  York 
Observer  by  Mrs.  Charles  Augustus  Stoddard,  under 
the  general  title  of  "A  Lady's  Letters  From  Abroad.11 
which  for  description  and  diction  have  scarcely  been 
equaled  by  any  writer  on  Italy. 


234      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


Around  the  historic   Piazza  della   Signoria,   where 
Savonarola  was  burned,  stand   in   perfect  preservation 

the  famous  Palazzo 
Vecchio,  the  forum 
of  the  Republic  be- 
gun in  1298,  the 
beautiful  Loggia 
dei  Lanzi,  erected 
in  1376.  and  the 
Uffizi  Palace  with 
its  celebrated  por- 
tico. The  Grand 
Duomo.  or  Cathe- 
dral. 129cS,  with 
Giotto's  unrivaled 
Campanile  and  the 
wonderful  Baptis- 
tery, founded  in 
1100,  retain  much 
of  their  original 
beauty.  Of  Giot- 
to's  Tower  in   Florence,    Longfellow  has   written : 

"How  many  lives,  made  beautiful  and  sweet 
By  self-devotion  and  by  self-restraint. 

Whose  pleasure  is  to  run  without  complaint 
On  unknown  errands  of  the  Paraclete, 
Wanting  the  reverence  of  unshodden  feet, 
Fail  of  the  nimbus  which  the  artists  paint 
Around  the  shining  forehead  of  the  saint, 


THE    CAMPANILE,     FLORENCE 


THE    BROWNINGS    IN    FLORENCE      235 

And  are  in  their  completeness  incomplete ! 

In  the  old  Tuscan  town  stands  Giotto's  Tower. 
The  lily  of  Florence  blossoming  in  stone — 

A  vision,  a  delight  and  a  desire — 

The  builder's  perfect  and  centennial  flower, 
That  in  the  night  of  ages  bloomed  alone, 

But  wanting  still  the  glory  of  the  spire.11 

The  houses  of  Michelangelo,  Dante,  Macchiavelli, 
Galileo  and  other  famous  old  Florentines  exist  intact, 
while  mementoes  of  the  great  Medici  family  abound. 
One  of  the  city's  picturesque  features  is  the  ancient 
Ponte  Vecchio,  the  quaint  and  interesting  old  bridge 
over  the  River  Arno,  since  1593  lined  with  goldsmiths' 
shops.  One  cannot  be  long  in  Florence  without  think- 
ing of  the  Brownings,  husband  and  wife,  and  of  their 
great  love  for  this  city  No  one  will  wish  to  miss  see- 
ing the  Protestant  burial-ground  and  the  square  marble 
sarcophagus  with  the  initials  "E.  B.  B. "  on  one  side, 
and  'Mune  29.  1861."  on  the  other 

While  Rome  is  the  ancient  center  of  Italian  life, 
Florence,  since  the  Middle  Ages,  has  been  its  chief  in- 
tellectual center.  It  was  here  that  the  Italian  language, 
literature  and  art  reached  their  prime.  Florence  has 
been  called  the  cradle  of  modern  culture,  and  to  speak 
of  that  city  is  to  bring  to  mind  the  author  of  the  *'Di- 
vina  Commedia,"  Dante,  who  was  born  here  in  1265. 
What  is  true  of  literature  is  also  true  of  painting. 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Michelangelo  and  Raphael  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  working  side 


236      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

by  side    in    Florence,  but   soon   afterward  transferred 
their  sphere  of  action  to  Rome. 

In  the  Pitti  Palace,  with  its  far-famed  gallery,  are 
five  hundred  pictures,  including  six  by  Raphael,  five 
by  Titian,  and  four  of  the  highest  rank  by  Rubens. 
In  the  Uffizi  Gallery  one  sees  the  Florentine  schools  of 
painting  at  their  best.  Different  rooms  bear  the  names 
of  distinguished  artists:  for  instance,  the  Michelangelo 
Room  contains  an  early  work  entitled  "The  Holy  Fam- 
ily/1 said  to  be  the  only  panel  picture  by  the  master  in 
Italy.  A  little  slab  in  the  Piazza  Signoria  marks  the 
spot  where  Savonarola  was  burned.  The  Vatican  was 
able  to  stifle  the  voice  of  one  of  its  greatest  friars,  but 
his  influence  did  not  cease  with  the  death  of  the  re- 
former, preacher  and  martyr. 

An  ancient  ceremony  was  witnessed  in  the  Piazza  del 
Duomo  on  Holy  Saturday,  called  the  Scoppio  del  Carro. 
Four  stout  white  oxen  had  drawn  from  its  keeping- 
place  in  another  part  of  the  city  a  car  covered  with 
fireworks.  The  oxen  were  decked  with  flowers  and 
escorted  by  firemen.  The  procession  occupied  nearly 
two  hours  before  it  reached  the  Cathedral,  where  the 
oxen  stopped  and  were  unharnessed.  A  wire,  stretching 
from  a  wooden  fixture  beside  the  choir  of  the  cathedral 
and  through  the  central  door,  was  fastened  to  the  car. 
Upon  this  wire  was  placed  a  colombina  (dove)  which 
was  to  set  off  the  fireworks.  The  time  for  the  Scoppio 
drew  near,  the  throng  in  the  Piazza,  which  had  been 
growing  all  the  morning,  became  as  dense  as  the  space 


THE    BURNING    OF   THE    CAR 


JW7 


would  permit.    Throngs  of  peasantry  and  mountaineers 
mingled  with  the  citizens  of  Florence. 

The  people,  especially  the  peasants,  are  convinced 
that  if  the  colombina  sets  off  the  fireworks  without  a 
hitch  the  coming  harvest  will  be  a  good  one.  but  if  on 
the  wire  it  stops  or  jerks  backward,  the  harvest  will  be 


BURNING  OF  THE  CAR  AT  FLORENCE  ON  HOLY  SATURDAY 


a  bad  one.  Hence,  to  avoid  disturbances,  the  man 
who  arranges  the  fireworks,  the  wire  and  the  dove  is 
threatened  with  non-payment  for  his  services  if  the  re- 
sult is  not  a  success;  in  former  times  he  would  have 
been  imprisoned.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  result 
was  a  great  success  when  we  witnessed  it. 

''Whatever  you  miss,"'  said  several  friends,  "do  not 
omit  a  trip  to  Fiesole. ' '     The  advice  was  heeded,  and 


238      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

it  is  passed  on  for  the  sake  of  all  visitors  to  Florence 
who  read  this  volume.  Fiesole  is  an  ancient  Etruscan 
town,  a  few  miles  from  the  city,  whose  inhabitants  are 
largely  engaged  in  straw-plaiting.  As  one  sits  on  the 
terrace  enjoying  his  luncheon,  or  walks  about  the  town, 
he   gets   a    view   of   Florence   with   the    Arno    flowing 


FIESOLE,     NEAR    FLORENCE 


through  it  and  the  hills  and  mountains  beyond  the  city 
to  which  no  painting  and  no  description  can  do  justice. 
Pisa  maybe  reached  by  an  express  train  from  Milan 
or  Rome  or  by  excursion  from  Florence.  As  an  Etrus- 
can trading  town  and  as  a  Roman  colony,  Pisa  ranked 
well  among  the  towns  of  the  early  Christian  centuries; 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century  it  became  a 
supreme  sea-power  in  the  western  Mediterranean. 


THE    LEANING  TOWER    OF    PISA      239 


The  Baptistery  at  Pisa,  built  of  marble,  dates  from 
the  twelfth  century.  In  this  building  an  attraction  is 
the  remarkable  echo  which  is  produced.  The  custodian 
has  a  rich  musical  voice,  and  he  sounds  the  notes  of  the 
scale  in  thirds  and  fifths,  now  in  major  and  again  in 
minor  tones.  The  echoes  are  heard  first  lightly,  then 
they  increase  in  volume  and  number  until  all  the  chords 
and  tones  appear  in  rich  combination ;  after  a  few  mo- 
ments the  sound  diminishes  until  silence  reigns. 

Pisa  is  not  visited  because  of  its  rich  Cathedral  or 
its  beautiful  Bap- 
tistery, but  thou- 
sands of  tourists  and 
Italians  go  to  this 
little  town  to  see 
its  far-famed  Cam- 
panile, or  leaning 
tower,  erected  in 
1174-1350.  With 
its  six  colonnades, 
one  above  the  other, 
it  is  179  feet  in 
height  and  fourteen 
feet  out  of  the  per- 
pendicular.       The 

fact  that  the  upper  three  stories  were  straightened 
by  the  architects  to  compensate  for  a  sinking  of  the 
foundations  during  the  erecting  of  the  tower  lessens  the 
fear  that  every  visitor  has  that  it  will  fall  while  he  is 


LEANING  TOWER  AND  CATHEDRAL,  PISA 


240      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

looking  at  it.  While  sitting  in  the  shadow  of  the 
Cathedral,  the  moon  outlining  in  detail  the  peculiar 
leaning  form  of  the  Campanile,  it  was  interesting  to 
recall  the  fact  that  Galileo  made  use  of  its  oblique 
position  in  his  study  of  the  laws  of  gravitation. 

Fifty-three  shiploads  of  earth  brought  from  Jeru- 
salem in  the  thirteenth  centurv  form  the  "Toundwork 
of  the  Campo  Santo  which  bounds  the  piazza  on  the 
north.  After  visiting  Pisa  it  is  easier  to  understand 
why  the  hills  of  Palestine  are  covered  with  rock  in- 
stead of  soil. 

Genoa,  the  seat  of  a  university  and  an  archbishop, 
the  headquarters  of  an  army  corps  and  one  of  the  chief 
seaports  of  Italy,  has  the  honor  of  having  destroyed 
the  naval  supremacy  of  Pisa  in  1284.  Her  activity  in 
the  Crusades  secured  for  her  a  busy  trade  with  the  Le- 
vant. Her  well-nigh  matchless  situation,  her  splendid 
harbor  and  her  past  filled  with  glory  impress  the  visitor 
to-day.  The  native  school  of  art  never  attained  great 
importance,  but  several  of  the  palaces  in  the  city  possess 
admirable  family  portraits  painted  by  Rubens  and 
Van  Dyck. 

Milan,  next  to  Naples  the  most  popular  town  in 
Italy,  lies  in  the  fertile  plain  of  Lombardy.  not  far 
from  the  chief  Alpine  passes.  It  is  the  financial  capi- 
tal of  Italy,  while  in  painting  its  only  rivals  are  Venice 
and  Rome.  It  has  been  an  important  place  since  re- 
mote antiquity.  Founded  bv  the  Celts,  it  rose  during 
the   Roman  period  to  be  the  chief  city  of  Northern 


THE   CATHEDRAL    OF   MILAN         241 

Italy.  In  the  fourth  century  it  was  often  the  residence 
of  the  emperors,  especially  of  Constantine  the  Great 
(324-337)  and  Theodosius  (379-395),  whose  edicts  in 
favor  of  Christianity  were  issued  hence. 

The  glory  of  Milan,  and  the  focus  of  its  commercial 
and  public  life,  is  the  Piazzo  del  Duomo.  The  Cathe- 
dral, a  Gothic  edifice  begun  in  1386.  built  entirely  of 
white  marble,  is  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  the 
world.  It  is  500  feet  long,  with  a  transept  of  288 
feet  and  a  facade  of  219  feet.  The  roof  is  adorned 
with  ninety-eight  turrets  and  the  exterior  with  about 
two  thousand  statues  in  marble.  The  aspect  of  the 
whole  is  fairylike,  especially  by  moonlight. 

The  manifold  attractions  of  Venice. may  be  seen,  or 
rather  glanced  at.  in  three  or  four  days  with  the  aid  of 
gondolas  and  steamers.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  that 
this  city,  lying  back  between  two  and  three  miles  from 
the  mainland  in  the  Lagoon,  a  shallow  bay  of  the  Ad- 
riatic, and  built  on  piles  on  177  small  islands,  was 
once  the  most  brilliant  commercial  city  in  the  world; 
and  yet  such  is  its  reputation.  It  is  intersected  by 
more  than  150  small  canals,  in  addition  to  the  Grand 
Canal,  which  are  crossed  by  nearly  four  hundred 
bridges,  mostly  of  stone. 

The  Church  of  St.  Mark,  the  tutelary  saint  of  Ven- 
ice, whose  bones  were  taken  by  Venetians  from  Alex- 
andria to  Venice  in  829,  was  begun  in  830.  In  the 
tenth  century  it  was  burned  and  rebuilt,  but  after  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  it  was  entirely  recon- 


242      THE    CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


structed  in  the  Byzantine  style.  The  church  is  in  the 
form  of  a  Greek  cross,  crowned  with  five  domes.  The 
building  is  lavishly  enriched  with  more  than  500 
marble  columns,    chiefly   Oriental,   and   with  mosaics, 

many  of  them  dat- 
ing back  to  the  tenth 
century.  Over  the 
chief  portal  are  four 
horses  in  gilded 
bronze,  five  feet  in 
height,  the  only 
horses,  by  the  way. 
in  Venice. 

The  slender 
Campanile,  which 
seemed  to  Thomas 
Bailey  Aldrich  like 
a  "falling  shaft  of 
silver,'"  actually 
fell  in  1902,  after 
standing  in  front  of 
St.  Mark's  for  more 
BRIDGE   of  sighs,    VENICE  than      a      thousand 

years;  it  is  now 
being  built  on  lines  as  closely  as  possible  resembling 
the  old  ones. 

The  art  of  Venice  bears  an  Oriental  stamp  not  only 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  and  its  mosaics,  but  also  in 
the  palaces  of  the  Gothic  period,  the  splendor  of  which 


IMff/kk 

-\ 

iS^KPS 

yA\  3fc;.  1    >fhk    ? 

jgSjJB^i&^7~|JK 

e4fc#£ 

. .__/ 

IN  A  GONDOLA  ON  THE  CANAL  243 


was  enhanced  by  external  decorations  in  gold  and  color. 
The  Piazza  of  St.  Mark,  without  a  rival  in  Italy,  affords 
the  most  striking  evidence  of  the  ancient  glory  of 
Venice.  It  is  bounded  by  the  Church  of  St.  Mark,  the 
so-called  Procuratie,  now  the  residence  of  the  nine  Pro- 
curators, the  chief 
officials  of  the  Re- 
public, and  the 
Atrio.  The  ground 
floors  of  these  build- 
ings are  occupied 
by  cafes  and  shops. 

Of  course  we  fed 
the  pigeons  in 
Venice ;  every  one 
feeds  the  pigeons  in 
front  of  the  Cathe- 
dral and  has  his 
photograph  taken 
with  the  doves  rest- 
ing on  his  arms  and 
shoulders.  Venice 
has  a  museum  and 

picture  gallery  and  bridges,  any  one  of  which  is  well 
worthy  of  a  visit,  especially  the  one  over  the  Mole, 
facing  the  Bridge  of  Sighs  between  the  Palace  of  the 
Doges  and  the  Criminal  Prison. 

And  what  shall  be  said  of  the  ride  in  a  gondola  on 
the  Grand  Canal,  under  a  full  moon  and  a  starlit  sky? 


THE    WINGED    LION    OF    VENICE 


244      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 


A  concert  was  in  progress,  the  music  being  on  two  gon- 
dolas locked  together;   from  every  direction  gondolas 

were  seen  slowly  but 
gradually  veering 
toward  those  from 
which  the  music 
came.  In  a  few 
moments  we  found 
our  gondolas  in  the 
center  of  the  small 
fleet,  all  apparently 
drifting  toward  a 
common  center. 
T  h  e  fascinating 
music,  the  bewitch- 
ing moonlight  and 
the  delightful  com- 
pany— what  a  com- 
bination, and  in 
Venice  too ! 
One  can  understand  Mrs.  Browning's  letters  upon 
Venice  better  after  being  in  the  city  where  she  wrote 
them.  Her  words  are  worth  repeating:  "The  beauty 
of  the  architecture,  the  silver  trails  of  water  up  be- 
tween all  that  gorgeous  color  and  carving,  the  en- 
chanting silence,  the  music,  the  gondolas — I  mix  it 
all  up  together  and  maintain  that  nothing  is  like  it. 
nothing  equal   to  it.  no  second  Venice  in  the  world." 


ON    THE    GRAND    CANAL 


CHAPTER     XVII 
THE    CRUISE    OF    THE    ARABIC 


And  when,  in  other  climes,  we  meet, 

Some  isle  or  vale  enchanting, 
Where  all  looks  flowery,  wild  and  sweet, 

And  naught  but  love  is  wanting  ; 
We  think  how  great  had  been  our  bliss 

If  Heaven  had  but  assigned  us 
To  live  and  die  in  scenes  like  this 

With  some  we've  left  behind  us. 

—Thomas  Moore. 

"rr^RAVEL.""1  says  a  Boston  preacher,  '"is  good  for 
A  the  soul — when  it  is  of  the  proper  kind  and 
pursued  in  company  with  the  right  sort  of  people.'1 
Such  a  company  sailed  out  of  New  York  Harbor  on  a 
cold  January  morning  on  the  steamship  Arabic  of  the 
White  Star  Line  bound  for  a  cruise  of  seventy-three 
days  in  the  Mediterranean.  "The  ripe  culture  of  a 
wise  old  world, "  predicted  the  preacher,  "will  be  under 
tribute  to  the  travelers  on  the  cruise.'1  The  prophecy 
became  history  in  the  weeks  which  followed.  Clergy- 
men, college  and  seminary  presidents  and  professors, 
Sunday-school  superintendents  and  teachers.  Christian 
Association  leaders — men  and  women — all  of  these 
classes  and  many  more  were  among  the  passengers.  It 
was  a  party  considerably  above  the  average  steamer 
company  in  point  of  intelligence. 

245 


246      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

While  there  was  no  expressed  principle  actuating  the 
conduct  of  the  members  of  the  party,  the  following 
illustrates  the  spirit  manifested  :  •'From  each  according 
to  his  ability;  to  each  according  to  his  need.11 

In  addition  to  the  round  of  sightseeing  at  every 
landing,  there  were  receptions,  lectures,  entertainments, 
musicales,  promenades  and  dances  and  concerts  on  board 
the  ship.  Nearly  every  night  the  main  saloon  was  filled 
with  several  hundred  people  gathered  to  be  instructed 
or  amused.  On  Sundays,  morning  and  evening,  there 
were  sermons  and  addresses.  The  writer  had  been  in- 
vited to  serve  as  chairman  at  the  entertainments  and 
lectures  and  to  arrange  for  the  Sunday  services.  The 
Church  of  England  service  was  used  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, in  accordance  with  the  custom  on  an  English  ship, 
but  Methodist.  Congregationalist.  Presbyterian  and 
Protestant  Episcopal  clergymen  were  heard  with  equal 
pleasure ;  the  federation,  if  not  the  unity,  of  Christen- 
dom seemed  near  at  hand.  Special  services  were  held 
for  the  Roman  Catholic  brethren  at  which  several  priests 
officiated  during  the  voyage.  The  Lord  Bishop  of 
Ontario;  the  Rev.  William  Allen  Knight.  D.D..of 
Boston;  the  Rev.  Joel  Leonard.  D.D.,  of  Melrose, 
Mass.;  the  Rev.  Orville  Reed.  Ph.D..  of  Montclair, 
N.  J.  ;  the  Rev.  J.  0.  Knott.  Ph.D..  of  Covington, 
Va.  ;  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Madeira,  of  Titusville.  Penn.  ; 
the  Rev.  H.  M.  Tyndall,  D.D..  of  New  York:  the  Rev. 
George  Maxwell,  of  California;  Principal  George 
E.    Fox,  of  New    Haven.  Conn.,  and    the    writer   were 


SOME    MEMBERS    OF    THE    ARABIC    PARTY 


248      THE   CLASSIC   MEDITERRANEAN 

among  those  who  by  sermon  or  lecture  or  address  added 
to  the  enjoyment  or  instruction  of  others. 

The  most  popular  speaker  among  the  score  or  more 
of  clergymen  on  board  was  Dr.  Knight,  of  Boston,  the 
author  of  "The  Song  of  Our  Syrian  Guest""  and  "The 
Love  Watch.'"  His  addresses,  "Over  the  Bow  of  the 
Arabic,'"  "Four  Shadows  on  the  Sea,11  and  "Keying 
the  Mind  for  Palestine,11  will  long  remain  a  cherished 
memory. 

It  is  scarcely  fair  to  describe  the  idiosyncrasies  of 
fellow-travelers,  lest  the  pit  that  one  digs  should  be  his 
own  burial-place.  The  breeze  which  seemed  gentle  to 
most  passengers  was  doubtless  a  "hurricane11  to  the  one 
who  "never  crossed  before11  The  slight  roll,  or  the 
occasional  dip,  probably  suggested  "'turning  turtle11  or 
preparing  for  "Davy  Jones's  Locker,"  and  historic  ex- 
periences are  on  record  where  ships  have  turned  over  or 
gone  down.  There  is  a  difference  between  "dialect"" 
and  "derelict.11  but  when  one  uses  the  former  term  in 
referring  to  a  water-logged  vessel,  he  is  excusable. 

One  wearer  of  the  Cloth  described  the  first  day  out 
the  kind  of  young  women  whom  he  desired  to  meet  on 
the  journey  : 

"They  must  be  ideal,  or  I  shall  not  seek  an  intro- 
duction,'1 he  said. 

"And  your  standard  of  ideality  in  a  woman  is — 
what?'1  suggested  one  who  was  desirous  of  rubbing  off 
the    ough  corners  of  what  had   been  authenticated  as  a 

i]    able  "diamond. " 


THE   FIRST   DAYS   ON   LAND         249 

"No  woman  is  really  attractive  unless  her  face  is 
beautiful,  her  dressing  exquisite,  her  form  perfect,  her 
vocabulary  without  a  flaw,  and  to  this  she  must  add  a 
bank  account  of  no  mean  size.11 

' '  And  in  exchange  for  all  this  you  can  offer — what? ' ' 

"Absolutely  nothing  but  myself." 

"You  have  omitted  an  important  asset." 

"What  is  that,  pray?" 

' '  An  abundance  of  nerve. 1 ' 

The  better  part  of  two  days  was  spent  at  Funchal,  in 
Madeira,  the  first  stopping-place.  Glad  indeed  were 
all  to  be  on  land  again,  especially  those  who  had  felt, 
like  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  afraid  first  that  they  should 
die,  and  then  that  they  couldn't.  The  quaint  sleds 
drawn  by  oxen ;  the  ride  up  the  mountainside  and  the 
slide  in  a  wicker  sledge  down  to  the  starting-place ; 
the  visit  to  the  shopping  district ;  the  prayer-meeting  at 
the  Methodist  Mission ;  the  ball  at  the  Casino,  with  the 
gardens  a  veritable  fairyland — one  was  sorry  to  hear 
the  steamer's  whistle  summoning  him  to  return  in  order 
to  take  up  the  journey  from  a  Portuguese  possession  to 
Spain. 

A  sail  past  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  with  Gibraltar 
and  Trafalgar  Bay  on  the  right  and  not  far  away,  and 
then  the  Arabic  anchored  near  the  place  from  which 
Columbus  set  sail  when  he  started  on  his  great  voyage 
of  discovery.  After  the  verdure  of  Madeira  the  white 
walls  of  the  Cadiz  buildings  strike  many  unpleasantly 
It  takes  the  edge  off  of  the  novelty  of  other  Spanish 


250      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

towns  to  see  them  after  one  has  been  in  Seville.  One 
could  well  afford  to  go  a  long  distance  to  see  the  old 
Cathedral  with  its  tomb  of  Columbus  and  its  picture  of 
St.  Anthony,  from  which  a  piece  of  canvas  was  cut  not 
long  ago  and  later  restored  ;  to  stand  before  the  Giralda, 


REV.    DH.    JOEL  LEONARD  THE   LORD    BISIIOI'   OF  ONTARIO 

the  wonderful  tower  near  the  Cathedral  erected  as  an 
observatory  by  the  Moors;  and  to  stroll  through  the 
palace  grounds  of  the  Alcazar  with  their  beautiful  gar- 
dens. When  one  goes  to  Granada  he  wishes  to  getaway 
from  the  crowd  and  with  one.  or  at  most  two  or  three, 
walk    slowly  through    the    Alhambra. 

The  sail  from  Gibraltar  to  Algiers  was  enlivened  by 


BOTH    SIDES   OF   THE   SEA  251 

the  recital  of  experiences  in  Spain  and  Morocco,  by  a 
concert  and  a  lecture  on  the  countries  next  to  be  seen. 
In  Algiers  carriages  took  the  visitors  through  the  Arab 
quarter  to  the  Governor's  Palace,  and  over  a  pictur- 
esque drive,  through  the  Botanical  Gardens,  ending 
with  a  visit  to  the  mosques  and  the  markets. 

Interest  was  divided  as  one  approached  Malta  be- 
tween the  fortifications  constructed  by  Great  Britain 
and  the  Bible  narrative  of  St.  Paul's  shipwreck.  Break- 
fast was  forgotten  as  the  steamer  whistle  announced  that 
the  place  where  Paul's  little  boat  went  to  pieces  was 
less  than  a  half-mile  to  starboard.  Two  or  three  small 
parties,  not  satisfied  with  the  view  of  the  bay  from  the 
steamer,  drove  out  to  the  "  place  where  two  seas  met" 
while  the  rest  of  the  company  were  visiting  the  public 
gardens,  the  church  of  St.  John  so  closely  identified 
with  the  Knights  of  Malta  and  the  Chapel  of  Bones, 
sufficiently  grewsome  to  thrill  the  most  staid  members 
of  the  party. 

Two  days  were  spent  in  Athens ;  a  small  party  visited 
Corinth  as  well.  Through  the  illuminating  lecture  on 
Athens  given  on  the  way  from  Malta  it  was  easy  to 
locate  the  buildings  as  soon  as  one  came  in  sight  of 
them.  The  fact  that  the  lecturer  himself  visited  Greece 
for  the  first  time  on  this  Cruise  did  not  detract  from 
the  interest  of  his  description ;  on  the  contrary,  he  en- 
tered more  into  detail  doubtless  than  he  would  if  he 
were  describing  the  city  now  that  he  has  seen  it. 

The  ride  through  the    Dardanelles  gave  one  an  op- 


252      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

portunity  to  read  for  a  day  about  the  wonderful  city  of 
Constantinople  which  was  reached  shortly  before  night. 
It  was  cold  during  the  stay  at  the  Capital  of  the  Turk- 
ish Empire.  In  fact  it  was  the  only  day  during  the 
trip  that  one  could  complain  of  the  cold ;  but  so  much 
time  was  spent  in  the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia,  the  Im- 
perial Treasury  and  the  bazaars  that  even  the  cold  did 
not  chill  one  unduly. 

A  day  in  Smyrna  and  Ephesus  and  another  in  Beirut 
prepared  the  tourists  for  a  week  or  fortnight  in  the  Holy 
Land.  The  Lord  Bishop  of  Ontario  and  a  few  other 
choice  spirits  went  to  Baalbec  and  Damascus,  reaching 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  by  rail  from  the  north,  while  other 
members  of  the  party  rode  from  Haifa  to  Nazareth  and 
Tiberias  in  carriages,  and  after  a  sail  on  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  to  the  sites  of  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida  re- 
turned by  rail  to  Haifa.  Perhaps  a  dozen  people  went 
across  country  from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem,  but  the  rest 
of  the  party  reached  the  Holy  City  by  rail  from  Jaffa. 

Bethlehem,  Hebron.  Nablous.  Jericho,  the  Jordan 
and  the  Dead  Sea,  as  well  as  Bethany  and  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  were  visited  by  members  of  the  Cruise,  ac- 
cording to  the  time  reserved  for  Jerusalem  and  for  the 
side  trips.  No  one  could  take  all  the  excursions  pro- 
vided, as  considerable  time  was  needed  lor  places  of 
interest  in  and  about  the  Holy  City.  Many  of  the  tour- 
ists attended  the  American  Church  in  Jerusalem  sup- 
ported by  the  American  Christian  Alliance,  and  later 
they  held    a   service    near   the   Russian    Church  on   the 


ROMANCE    ON   THE   NILE  253 

Mount  of  Olives.  The  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  the 
garden  near  Gordon's  Calvary,  and  the  tomb  in  the 
garden  produced  a  deeper  impression  on  the  minds  of 
the  non-Catholic  part  of  the  company  than  did  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  though  every  one  went 
through  that  historic  building  as  well  as  the  Mosque  of 
Omar,  not  far  away. 

One  week  or  two  was  spent  in  Cairo  and  on  the  Nile 
according  to  the  selection  made  in  dividing  the  time 
between  Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land.  Egypt  still  is  the 
land  of  romance  as  well  as  history.  A  young  Armeni- 
an from  Constantinople,  to  whom  one  of  the  Southern 
ladies  had  carried  a  letter  of  introduction,  followed  the 
party  to  Cairo,  and  pressed  his  suit  with  such  effect  that 
the  young  lady  was  in  tears  as  she  considered  what 
answer  she  should  give  to  the  old  but  ever  new  ques- 
tion. 

The  members  of  some  of  the  Nile  parties  saw  Luxor 
and  Assouan,  and  if  reports  are  true,  at  least  one  of  the 
couples  found  time  to  take  a  fishing  trip,  for  it  was  re- 
ported on  their  return  to  Cairo  that  their  future  was 
assured,  as  he  had  ''hooked  her  up  the  Nile.1'  There 
were  other  romances  connected  with  the  Land  of  the 
Pharaohs,  and  not  a  few  interesting  incidents  experi- 
enced by  members  of  the  party ;  and  many  amusing 
comments  were  made  by  those  who  were  visiting  Egypt 
for  the  first  time.  It  was  difficult  for  one  of  the 
American  travelers  to  remember  the  name  of  the  stone 
image  back  of  the  Pyramids,  but  she  was  able  to  iden- 


254      THE   CLASSIC    MEDITERRANEAN 

tify  it  by  this  designation:  "I  mean  that  fixin'  with 
a  man's  face  on  it."  No  one  failed  to  know  that  she 
had  seen  the  Sphinx,  and  in  referring  to  it  as  masculine 
she  had  shown  greater  wisdom  than  some  travelers  with 
more  book  knowledge  than  she  possessed. 

A  day  in  Sicily  after  sailing  through  the  Straits  of 
Messina  whetted  the  appetite  for  Naples  and  Rome  and 
Florence  and  Pisa  and  Venice  and  Milan,  for  those  who 
went  through  Europe.  About  two-thirds  of  the  party 
contented  themselves  with  Naples  and  Rome,  and  after 
a  few  hours  on  the  Riviera  and  a  glimpse  of  Monte 
Carlo  sailed  for  Queenstown  and  Liverpool.  There  a 
transfer  was  made  to  another  ship,  and  after  another 
week  of  ocean  life,  the  Cruise  of  the  Arabic  was  at  an 
end,  and  enough  information  and  inspiration  had  been 
gained  to  last  its  five  hundred  members  many  years. 

Thackeray  concludes  his  story  of  his  month  on  the 
Mediterranean  with  a  paragraph  which  may  well 
encourage  future  travelers  in  the  Orient:  "What  a 
number  of  sights  and  pictures  and  novel  sensations 
and  lasting  and  delightful  remembrances  after  such  a 
tour !  You  forget  all  the  annoyances  of  travel,  but 
the  pleasures  remain  with  you ;  the  sorrows  of  the 
journey  pass  away  with  the  soothing  influence  of  time; 
the  pleasures  of  the  voyage  remain,  let  us  hope,  as 
long  as  life  will  endure.  It  is  but  for  a  couple  of 
days  that  those  shining  columns  of  the  Parthenon  glow 
under  the  blue  sky  there;  but  the  experience  of  a  life 
could   scarcely  impress  them   more  vividly.      Who  can 


THE   TRIP   AN    IDEAL   ONE  .'255 

forget  the  Bosphorus,  the  brightest  and  fairest  scene  in 
all  the  world  !  But  the  happiest  and  best  of  all  recol- 
lections, perhaps,  are  those  of  the  hours  passed  at 
night  on  the  deck  when  the  stars  were  shining  over- 
head as  the  hours  were  tolled  at  their  time,  and  jour 
thoughts  were  fixed  upon  home  far  away." 

For  those  who  desire  to  trace  the  course  of  the  trip 
in  the  Mediterranean  which  Thackeray  took,  and  to 
see  the  ports  visited  by  those  on  the  cruise  described 
in  these  pages,  reference  may  be  made  to  the  frontis- 
piece of  this  volume,  which  is  reproduced  by  the 
courtesy  of  the  officers  of  the  White  Star  Line,  to 
whom  grateful  recognition  is  made. 

From  first  to  last  Mr.  P.  V.  G.  Mitchell,  the  director 
of  the  Cruise,  representing  the  White  Star  Line,  had 
done  everything  possible  to  insure  the  safety  and  com- 
fort of  the  passengers,  and,  assisted  by  Mr.  E.  L.  Her- 
man, of  Thomas  Cook  &  Sons,  had  carried  out  every 
promise  made  for  side  trips  in  Spain,  Turkey,  Pales- 
tine, Egypt  and  Italy.  To  call  the  trip  ideal  is  to 
speak  within  bounds ;  and  no  one  could  fail  to  recog- 
nize the  good  hand  of  an  overruling  Providence  in  the 
journey  by  land  and  sea. 


HOME   THOUGHTS   FROM   EUROPE 

By  the  Rev.    Henry  van   Dyke,   D.D.,  LL.D. 

It  is  good  to  see  the  Old  World,  and  travel  up  and  down 
Among  the  famous  countries  and  the  cities  of  renown. 
To  admire  the  crumbly  castles,  and  the  monuments  and  kings  \ 
But  soon  or  late  you  have  enough  of  antiquated  things. 

Oh,  London  is  a  man's  town,  there's  power  in  the  air; 
And  Paris  is  a  woman's  town,  with  flowers  in  her  hair; 
And  it's  sweet  to  loaf  in  Venice,  and  it's  great  to  study  Rome  ; 
But  when  it  comes  to  living,  there  is  no  place  like  home. 

Oh,  Europe  is  a  fine  place,  yet  something  seems  to  lack, 
The  past  is  too  much  with  her,  and  the  people  looking  back : 
But  life  is  in  the  present,  and  the  future  must  be  free ; 
We  love  our  land  for  what  she  is,  and  what  she  is  to  be. 

So  it's  home  again,  and  home  again,  America  for  me  ! 
My  heart  is  turning  home  again  to  God's  countrie, 
To  the  blessed  land  of  Room  Enough,  beyond  the  ocean  bars. 
Where  the  air  is  full  of  sunshine  and  the  flag  is  full  of  stars 


From  "White  Bees."  Copy- 
right, 1910,  by  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons,  and  reproduced  here  by  the 
kind  permission  of  the  author. 


256 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
IV  f  /~\     r*>      k°s  Angeles 


DUE  on  the  last  date  st 


low. 


Z     MAY, 

re  ; 

SEP.17H& 


Form  L9-50m-7,'54  (5990)  444 


AA    000  677  316 


D97U 

Vk9c 


